Starlight Breaker: Operation Snake Eater
by Grayjedi-Productions
Summary: After the end of World War II, the world was split into two: East and West. When a Shutran scientist named Granz Flor calls to defect to the west, special agent Quint is sent in. But not everything is as easy as it seems. A crack-fusion fiction piece between Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
1. Author's Note

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything by the Metal Gear Solid or Lyrical Nanoha Series. Metal Gear Solid is own by Kojima Productions under Hideo Kojima while Lyrical Nanoha is owned by Seven Arcs under Masaki Tsuzuki . Third Party references that are not my own works? Obviously not mine as well.**

This is the project that I was talking about if you were followers of my other previous Fanfic writing. If you weren't, then hello there MGS and MGLN fan, this is Grayjedi-Productions with something beyond weird for a fanfic piece.

In celebration of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain I had always being thinking about the origins of Big Boss and the Snake Brothers. On an off note, I looked at Magical Girl (Mahou Shoujo) Lyrical Nanoha. The story of clone sisters (but not exact clones) of Subaru, Nove and Ginga all related to Quint. This made my brain go into strange dimensions as I try to piece together a work of combine fiction that I can only think up of as _Mega Crack Fiction_. I'll try to find a role with a majority of the Nanoha cast in this strange and crack filled world but things are not always as simple.

While I had initially thought of placing this in the cross-over section... It is more of a Fusion fiction between the two series with no meetings like Quint meeting Big Boss or anything like that. Hence is why this is here.

I'm taken seriously at all with this venture? Meh, who knows? I'm here to poke fun.

A fan of both the Metal Gear and Lyrical Nanoha Series

~ **Starlight Breaker: Operation Snake Eater ~**


	2. Chapter 1: Infiltration

**Location [Unknown] – Time [Unknown]**

* * *

"Quint, I have some very important news." A man said as he paced about. Blackout shades hung over the windows while living room lamps provided basic illumination. Slowly they dimed as a small projector hummed to life. Another person slowly lifted her head up the display, before dragging a cigar to her mouth.

"The head of the Investigative Intelligence Agency has finally given us the green light for the Virtuous Mission." He gave a casual glace back to the person and frowned. Smoking in a room like this would just make everything blurry for the screen. From the single light source, he could see his best shot agent's light purple hair. Cut to a simple bob for military purposes, the man remembered back when she did have a longer hair wrapped into a simple bun.

"A 'virtual' mission?" She asked.

"No. The Virtuous Mission. The future of the RF6 unit depends on it." The man turned around and walked over to the projection. Several images on sparked to light as the woman gazed up. Images and films of scouting reports to the other side of Dinsmark Wall and the surrounding areas hazed over. The recording was grainy with colors of tan and brown mixed together. Quint squint her eyes to get a better resolution.

"This sounds like a kind of initiation ritual." She commented.

"Don't get cocky. This isn't a training op."

"So what is this wonderful mission?"

"Well… Two years ago, a certain Soviet scientist requested asylum through one of our moles. His name is Granz Flor. He's head of the OKB-67 and the East's foremost expert on artificial construct development." A grainy picture of the man slowly appeared with general noted appearance. Grey-ish hair parted in front. Naturally wavy. His face was angular, but not in such a way that he was fierce looking. In fact, he looked quite the opposite.

"Flor?... Isn't he that famous rocket scientist?"

"Correct. On April 12th, 1961, the Soviet achieved manned space flight for 108 minutes."

"Terra was blue… But there was no God."

A low chuckle came from the man as he brushed some of his hair to the side. The projection slowly shifted to a far away recording of the Soviet rocket boosting into space. "Well spoken. The rocket that carried Yuri Volga Tereshkova was called the A1, the Vostok Rocket. Flor is said to be the man most responsible for the multi-mana engine used for that rocket."

"After Tereshkova's flight, Flor was reassigned to the new formed Design Bureau."

Quint frowned. "That's quite the success story. So why would he want to defect?"

"I say that it was a 'crisis of conscious'. Perhaps he became afraid of his own creations."

"So he just left his family and went over the Iron Curtain?"

"Not exactly." he refuted. "A condition for his defection was to have his family safely taken to the West. We used a mole to get the family out first, and successfully sneaked Flor's over the Dinsmark Wall shortly afterwards." The purple-haired woman spotted a small smile appear on his face. "I was the one that conducted the operation."

But just as the smile appeared, it quickly turned to melancholy.

"Unfortunately, the entire operation had left him exhausted, traveling over seven hundred miles in two weeks. While he was recovering in the hospital, we had something much bigger on our hands."

"The Juventud Missile Crisis."

"October 16th, 1962. President Edsel received word that the Soviets were in the progress of planting medium-ranged ballistic missiles in Juventud. The President demanded that the Soviets were to cease and dispose of these missiles. In the meanwhile, a naval blockade was established to prevent further missile shipments."

"Instead, the Soviets placed their military forces on secondary alert, as their transport ships continued. US and Soviets forces went on alert for an all out nuclear war. Negotiations were conducted through the UN's Emergency Security Council and unofficial channels to end the standoff. Nearly two weeks later, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles from Juventud. But in order to get the Soviets to remove the missiles, we had to make a deal."

"You mean when the US removed the IRBMs from Anadolu right?"

The man shook his head to Quint's disbelief. "The Tinia IRBMs in Anadolu were obsolete and were going to be disposed of anyways. It was a ruse, a cover story to hide the real deal."

"So what did the Shutrans really want?"

"They wanted Flor's back."

The purple haired woman frowned as she tilted her head cockeyed. "You mean that Soviets pulled out of Juventud just to get Flor? What the hell was he working on?"

"At the time we had no idea. It was that or face annihilation. President Edsel gave into Premier Zaporozhets' demand. The next day, I got Flor out of the hospital and handed him over to agents on the other side. He kept yelling 'Save me' until he disappeared from my sight."

Quint started to scratch her head. Getting her head wrapped around everything was not exactly one of her strongest points. "Roughly a month ago, we received some new information from one of our moles. He was taken back to the research facility and forced to continue the work on the weapon. From what we can gather, it's nearing completion."

"Guessing from everything… Maybe it has something to deal with rockets?"

"Missiles, but same technology. For the past half year, the Soviets have been testing nuclear weapons in Kazakh. We are talking about a weapon that Zaporozhet's was willing to pull out of Anadolu just to get Flor back."

"Is Flor still in the facility?"

"No, according to our intelligence he's in Tsenlinoyarsk, a place in the mountains three miles to the west to a place known as the 'Virgin Cliffs'." The screen shifted over to a large map of the world and zoomed into the deep jungles in the lower large sections of the Soviet Union.

"Huh. 'Virgin Cliffs'… A perfect place for this Virtuous Mission. But why exactly?"

"Field testing of the weapon; however this is our best chance to get him back. Flor's had a few of our moles contacted when he heard of his move to the area."

The projection screen slowly died as the fans noisy sounds came to a slow halt. "Shield your eyes." The man said as he walked over and flipped the switch. Quint grunted as her eyes adjusted to the now bright room.

"This mission is of top secrecy and you remember our policy in Riot Force 6"

"On site procurement. The only thing we are allowed to carry with us is our devices, and radio equipment."

"Good woman."

* * *

**Location: Over Ayubian Territory – 0530 Hours – August 24, 1964**

* * *

The low rumbles of the airplanes propellers echoed in the cargo area as Quint played with a cigar in her fingers. Small embers of fire sprinkled out as a man with a flight mask nodded in a radio conversation. "Twenty minutes to drop off. Internal depressurization… Equipment check; parachute…"

A few more moments passed as she listened into the conversation. Nothing was interesting to her ears. All the routine and higher up commands were someone else's problem.

He turned his head over to the woman and motioned at her. "Put out that cigar. Connecting oxygen hose to… Oi, are you even paying attention?"

Again, she continued to smoke, before a man's voice crackled to life in her ear piece. "Hey are you deaf? He said to put out that cigar and put on your mask."

Quint sighed as she lazily flicked the cigar to the end of the cargo hold as the attendant just blinked. Who did this person think she was anyways?

Donning the mask, the light in the room dimmed to yellow as she turned to the hatch.

"Depressurization complete. Oxygen supply is green. Six minutes to drop off; opening rear hatch."

As the metal doors cracked open, a searing white and yellow light pierced through. Wisps of clouds leaked into the cargo bay followed by the rush of cold wind. Her uniform kept the coldness at bay at a minimum as she felt her muscles constrict. The plane had reached above the clouds as the blue skies above were all between the ground and space. Already, the sounds from the propellers grew louder now exposed to the air outside.

"External temperature, minus forty five degrees Celsius. Two minutes to drop off. Stand up."

The purple-haired agent did as she was told, flexing her fingers and toes. The man's voice crackled to life again as she turned to face the exit. "You'll be falling at 130 miles per hour. Try not to get frostbite on the way down."

"One minute to drop off. Move to the rear. Activate bailout bottle."

"This is one for the records. The world's first HALO jump." Slowly with calculated steps, she made her way to the edges of the hatch doors.

"Status Ok. All green. Countdown in five, four, three, two, one…"

"Spread your wings and fly! God be with you!"

Tilting her body slightly forward she felt gravity already taking her away. A slightly lift from her feet and she was diving down. Front flip after front flip, a grin sparked behind her oxygen mask before she tucked herself in before going for a direct dive.

The razor sharpness of the cold and wind blowing past her as she felt her body instantly hit as fast as it could possibly go. Cutting through the clouds, her goggles started to fog from the shift from colder to cold. Droplets of water formed on her uniform only to freeze and chip off. Only two minutes passed when she saw the lush green jungle below. Spreading her body, her descent slowed down ever so slightly as the man's voice returned.

"Listen up Quint, your mission is to infiltrate Tselinoyarsk in the Soviet mountains, ensure the safety of Flor and bring him back to the West. If we don't get Flor back before that weapon is complete, we'll be facing a major crisis. The clock is ticking."

Quint curved her body to the left as she continued her rapid descend. ... _Three one thousand, two one thousand, one one thousand…_ She pulled at her ripcord bracing herself for the next part; The immediate pull at her center body stung from her chest to her lower body as the winds died down to a slow descend.

"Once we've confirmed the rescue of Flor, stand ready at the recovery point. A recovery balloon will be dropped at that point. Helium will be pumped into the balloon to inflate it. Once it's complete, the gunship's arm will latch onto the balloon to pull it back up."

"The Galaxie Surface-to-Air Recovery System. I'm familiar with the theory…" Quint trailed off as she shifted her body to the side. The movement tilted her descend towards the river bend's side and thicker part of the trees.

"Don't worry. It's been combat proven."

"Do you think that Flor is up to it?"

"The shock will be less than a parachute jump and the arm can handle up to 230 kilograms."

"A single combat talon… Is it really going to work in this region?"

"She's equipped with two six-barrel twenty millimeter Vulcan cannons, as well as two forty millimeters machine guns."

Quint 'hmm-ed' in thought. "Sounds like she can handle her own against a battalion of tanks or heavy combat mages."

"We are facing a four hour time limit here. If all goes well, it shouldn't take more than a few hours."

"Heh. Home in time for dinner."

"But if anything goes wrong, you'll be having your dinner, breakfast and all the rest of your meals in the jungle."

At this point, her feet lightly brushed against the treeline as her body seeped in. Kicking and sweeping the branches out of the way, more started to appear as they brushed and smacked themselves against her face and gear. A snapping tug pulled at her shoulder as Quint turned to see her backpack caught on a branch.

Another branch whacked her around as she saw a cliff just infront. Unclipping the parachute, her body kept flying forward as she branched herself on the ground. Carefully looking around the area, Quint removed her mask and breathed in the fresh air. No more that pure oxygen smell and taste. Looking around again, the infiltrator slid over to a nearby tree and opened a radio channel from the little device on her uniform's chest left side.

"Do you copy? You're already in enemy territory, and somebody might be listening in. From here on out, we'll be referring to each other by codenames. You're codename for this mission will be 'Naked Snake'. I'll be referring to you as 'Snake' from now on."

Quint grunted in as the man noticed it. "What? You don't like snakes?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've eaten one before, haven't you?"

"In survival training, yeah…" she replied begrudgingly. It wasn't the tastiest of things, but it did get the job done.

"Good to know."

"And what about you Major? What should I call you?"

"Hmm… Let's see now. Ah, how about Toyota. I'll be Major Toyota."

"Hmph… Gotcha."

"Just as I said before, this is a sneaking mission. Everything is to be obtained onsight. If you ever do get hungry or injured for whatever reason, everything you need is in your backpack."

"Yeeeaahhhhh… About that, I kinda got in stuck in a tree on the way down."

"Well then, better have yourself some exercise before the mission."

Rolling her eyes Quint replied, "Got it. I'll radio back once I have it."

"Good woman. My frequency is 140.75."

With a click off, Quint got herself back up as she stretched her body out. First her legs as she felt a resistance from muscle knots of sitting down for hours. The plane ride itself was the most boring out of the mission. Having to get up late at night to travel on the other side of the globe, the Major had stated for her to rest or catch some sleep.

But now back on the ground, she couldn't feel anymore happier. A grin appeared on her face as she swept over a rotting log and jogged over to the tree with her backpack. Some vines climbed up as she gripped and tugged at them. Firm.

Taking the first step up, she latched on the higher part of the vine until she reached the branch. She swung her legs side to side to get some momentum before grabbing a hold on the branch as she crawled her way over to her backpack. Quint grabbed the backpack off the branch and fell back to the jungle ground. Seeing that there was nobody around to eavesdrop, she crouched down and opened the channel again.

"Major, I've obtained my gear."

"Excellent Snake, now then onwards to business."

"So my only weapon is a SW Model 39 equipped with a knuckle device?"

"Indeed. It's been modified to accept your mana input. Just remember that you're draining your magical abilities every time that you use it. I expect you to also pick up after yourself in case you do use those mana cartridges when you start to feel winded. Also, there is a suppression attachment to it, but I wouldn't go trigger happy on it. Use it sparingly."

"Alright…"

"Ah, and now to met the other members of this mission. The first member of your support team will be monitoring your physical condition. A medic in a sense. She's on the gunship with me."

"She?"

A little bit of movement was heard as another voice was heard. Definitely a woman. But like the Major himself, carried an air of class. No accent like the Major's Mid-Childan voice. Probably Haimirian like herself.

"Hello there Snake. I'm Para-Medic. Nice to meet you."

"Para… Medic?"

"As in a medic that comes in by a parachute."

"Aren't you going to tell me your real name?"

"Are you going to tell me yours Ms. Snake?"

"Mine is… Ballade."

"And yet they call you Quint?"

A light chuckle escaped her lips as she shook her head. It was not like they would notice her doing so. "A name means nothing on the battlefield. After a week, no ones as a name. So what's your name?"

"Primera."

"Funny."

"If you manage to make it back alive, then I'll tell you my name. My frequency is 145.65" A few more shifts and the Major's voice came back. "Alright then and now there is one more person that I want you to meet Snake?"

"Huh?"

"Speaking of Snakes, you remember The Boss, don't you?"

_Her uniform was plain, much like her own. If there was one thing that she could remember seeing, it was her hair, swaying in the wind as her twin pigtails brushed along. A certain bit of sadness was in her eyes, but carried the flame of her will. She turned back to her and gave a small smile. "Quint… Are you ready?"_

Quint felt a lump in her throat as she tried to swallow. "Th-the Boss?"

"Quint, is that you?" A voice said, just as she remembered it. Almost lyrical sounding, and yet carried an air of firmness. "How many years has it been?"

"Boss?"

"That's right, it's me."

She gasped for breathe before shaking off the feeling. "It's been five years, seventy two days, eighteen hours, and twenty seven minutes."

A near trademarked chuckle echoed on the radio channel. "… You've lost weight."

"You can tell just from the sound of my voice?"

"Of course. I know all about you."

"Really?" She said in a firm tone, but not disrespectful. "'Cause I barely know anything about you."

"I was on a top-secret mission."

"But there were so many things that I wanted you to teach me."

"No, I taught you everything that you needed to know. I taught you all I could. The rest you needed to learn on your own."

"Techniques can only go so far. But about thinking like a soldier?"

The line was silent for a moment before her voice returned. "How to think like a soldier? I can't teach you that."

"What?"

"Soldiers need to be strong in spirit, body and technique; I could only teach you technique. But even then, technique can only go so far. The things that matters the most are 'Spirit' and 'Body'."

"I can't teach you how to think. You just have figure it out for yourself." The purple-haired infiltrator grunted in acknowledging what she was saying. Sometimes she was cryptic with what she was saying.

"Just because we are soldiers on the same side right now, doesn't mean that it'll be the same the next. What's today's good might be tomorrow's evil. It's politics that determine who we fight."

"And that's why you abandoned me?" She said defensively.

"It had nothing to do you with. I already told you I was on a top-secret mission. A solider has to follow whatever order's he's given. It's not his place to question why. You are quite the natural born fighter, but not quite a soldier."

"A soldier is a political tool, nothing more. Right and wrong have no place in his mission."

"If there is no right and wrong, then what are we to believe?"

"The only thing we can believe in with absolute certainly is the mission, Quint."

"… Alright. But do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"Call me Snake."

"Snake… Oh, right. Your codename is Snake. It suits you."

"That's right. The unit that The Boss created was named after a snake." Quint shifted uncomfortably as the Major's voice came back on. She knew that he was listening in but it was always nice to feel that she was having a 'private' talk with her mentor.

"The Cobra Unit. A multinational group of heroes that brought the war to an end. As long as you got a legendary hero like The Boss backing you up, I think you'll be fine, right Snake?"

A small grin appeared on her face as Quint relaxed. "Yeah… I wouldn't think of anybody else that I'd rather have. And one more thing Boss…"

"Yes?"

"It's good to hear your voice again."

A trademark chuckle came from the other side of the line. It always brought a sense of home back to her. "Same here. After all, who knows if either of us will make it out alive. You were always better in urban warfare and infiltrating buildings. But this is the jungle. Survival is the key. Remember the basics to the Strike Arts I taught you. They are sure to come in handy."

"Ehh, I've been in the Special Forces for a few years… I'm kinda rusty."

"Not to worry. I'm here to help you remember. After all, this is your first survival mission. I'll be supporting you over the radio."

"Where are you anyways Boss? I didn't see you on the plane."

"The Boss is communicating with us on the radio from aboard a Thresher-class submarine in the Arctic Ocean."

"My frequency is 141.56. Call me if you need my advice on battle techniques."

Standing back up, Quint listened in to the Major's mini briefing. "Doctor Flor is being held in an abandoned factory ruins just north of your position."

Her hands gripped around her pistol as played with the slide, making sure that it wouldn't jam. Releasing the clip from the pistol, there were already cartridges. Everything was good.

"Snake, try to remember the basics of the Strike Arts."

Stance widening and her upper body leaning slightly forward a small glow radiated from her body. A way to regulate her internal mana reserves without over-extending herself. Feeling armed and ready, Quint had herself a grin.

"Commencing Virtuous Mission… Now."


	3. Chapter 2: Betrayal

**Just so everybody is aware… This is not exactly Metal Gear Solid, but not exactly Lyrical Nanoha as well. The history of this world is not exactly that of Earth, certain events, times of history… All partially modified for this strange bit of crackfiction.**

**I will hold off all questions until the end of the fanfic. But if something is really, REALLY bugging you… You can always PM me. **

**And thank you to the first two people to make a review. Thank you very much.**

* * *

**Time (Local): 0600 Hours – August 24, 1964**

* * *

The lush jungles of Tselinoyarsk teamed with life as birds, bugs and other creatures hummed in their own tunes. Some in harmony, other's in scales and a few off-key. But the humming started to fade in a local area against the light steps of a certain purple-haired special agent. Her face already coated with sweat from the jungle, she hurried towards her objective, cracking her fingers just in case of anything bad happening.

By the time she found a path clearing to the abandoned facility, Quint had noticed splashed colors of the jungle moving about. It was not the same as her surroundings that she quickly became familiar off. These beings were human sized with black hoods over their heads to conceal their faces. She quickly hid behind a tree before opening her radio channel again.

A quick sidestep away from her tree cover and she withdrew a pair of binoculars. "Major, I have just spotted two enemy soldiers."

After a moments of silence, the Major's voice came back with a reply. "It is probably KGB troops stationed to guard Flor." It was not like Quint had not expected to have any type of trouble. In fact, she had already thought of the possibilities of having to face several Shutran troops before. Focusing on their weapons, she was able to spot out at least two grenades latched on to the back of their belts while their hands had slung down with a long weapon. The first troop had a rifle, nothing exactly too fancy with current technology. The usual bend in the cartridge and dull orange color at the stock were the classic signs of the Shutran AK-47.

But the other troop had a long stave of kinds. A cartridge easily spotted out nearing the end of the stave with a small dulled coloring at end. Shaped like a tilted 'C', it was the Shutran MY-33, a magic staff used much like any other weapon.

"Ah, now would be good time as ever to explain a few things with your uniform. As you would remember, your uniform is the standard default for our RF6 section being jungle green. However, we had included some extra goodies in your backpack. If you would take them out now."

Doing as she was told, Quint made sure that the guards weren't coming in her direction before slinging her backpack over. From its contents there wasn't much. A few collapsed cages for possible captured animals, extra tins for keeping food fresh. But in the corner were strange hand sized pieces of cloth. Pulling one out, it was shades both light and dark of green. It was stiff, but malleable.

"As you recall from history World War II, both sides were managed to manipulate mana to create the common military uniforms that we wear today. No longer needing to dress up to be combat ready a few minutes ahead in blitzkriegs. This is what we know today as a 'Barrier Jacket'. Now, we can change the shape and color of our Barrier Jackets, making a 'camouflage' suited for our sneaking operations."

The Boss's voice soon followed up. "He's right Snake. The point of your mission is to sneak by completely undetected. By memorizing these patterns, you can change your camouflage on the fly to make sure that nobody can spot you. I've already taught you mana manipulation, so try it yourself."

Getting a little fidgety with a new gadget, Quint stared long and hard into the pattern as her Barrier Jacket's color started to morph. The solid green texture was now left for a more leafy green color and pattern. "Cool…" she giggled before looking at the other patterns. But there was something that caught her eye, a mask of kinds. Pulling it out, it was the face of a young woman, probably just a little younger than herself. Short brown hair, but not exactly a bowl cut either.

"Uuuhhh Major?"

"Yes? What is it Snake?"

"I found this mask in the backpack."

"Oh. Yes. _That_." His enthusiasm dropped with a hint of dryness. "Never was a fan of that thing."

"You don't like it?"

"Oh no no." He sighed. "It's just that me and that mask have a bit of history."

"If you don't it that much, why give it me?"

The Major sighed. It was probably going to be a story. "If you must ask, it was created for another mission. An infiltration mission that required the operative to disguise herself as a Soviet Officer in some obscure military base. Fortunately, or unfortunately for my case, the mission was scrapped and the mask was going to be thrown away, but the man who created it insisted to save it."

"Why's that?"

"Apparently to him, it was a 'too good of thing to be thrown away'."

"I don't see anything wrong with it."

"Well apparently the design is a revolutionary thing, allowing the wearer to blink."

Quint scratched her head, raising an eyebrow. "You know, I'd think that moving the lips would have been better than blinking eyes."

"I thought so too, but then again the man that made it is a bit… eccentric. Going on little rants of his."

"Sounds more like a loon to me."

"Yes but he does good work, something that we can't overlook. Alright, stop faffing about Snake, and get back to the mission."

Giving the mask one last good look, Quint had already memorized a few of the patterns. Now to make them work. She slung the backpack over her shoulders and started to head towards the open area. With her camouflage already in 'Leaf pattern' (Quint just named it) she dove into the closest tall grass as one of the guards started to make their way over. Just as the guard pasted her, she felt a familiar gurgling feeling in her stomach.

_Damn it… I'm hungry already…_ She mentally groaned. The guard turned his head, having heard the gurgling sound. "Da fuck..?" he said in Shutran. As he made his way towards Quint, she quickly drew her pistol and fired it at the guards' neck. A hacked cough escaped his lips before he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Sweating heavily, Quint stood back up and wiped her brow. Too close. She pulled the guard into the brush before taking a look at him. It was the guard with the MY-33. She snatched a few of the extra grenades he had on his person before snooping around his backpack. Her mouth watered as she found small tin. A Shutran ration.

Immediately popping the top, Quint grabbed the crackers, ripping the plastic wraps and crunched down on it. Nearly a second later, she spat them out. "Th-this is… horrible!" She whispered to herself. "How could food betray me like this? How to do they eat this crap?" She looked down at the rest of the ration and fumed over just throwing the entire thing away.

Livid, Quint did the smart thing; she threw the contents back into pack before getting back to the mission at hand.

-.-.-

The sounds of rushing water echoed out from the ravine just below a long rope bridge. As Quint looked out from her cover of tall grass, she was still not over the terrible taste of the crackers on her tongue. Just before the bridge was another guard as he walked back and forth at a lazy pace.

Looking for options, she looked around. A hornet's nest hung just above his head.

_This oughta make them pay for having terrible rations!_ She smiled and fired at the nest. The ball of regurgitated tree bark popped off the tree and fell to the ground as angry hornets flew out. The guard, having noticed the fallen nest slowly started to back away before the angry swarm of insects assaulted the closest target. Already trying to bat away the hornets, he ran across the rope bridge as other guards started to yell at the incoming swarm. Their screams of pain were only greeted with Quint's smiling face.

-.-.-

Only a few minutes later and Quint had arrived just outside the ruins of a former Soviet Research Center. Clicking on her radio, she kept her voice low. Guards were numerous as they patrolled about the forested area and ruins.

"Major, I reached the abandoned factory where Flor is being held. Place looks like it was blown to bits." She shifted around a bit of cover with binoculars in hand, scanning the distance. "Security's tight…"

"Be careful. Your mission is to bring Flor back alive. He must not be exposed to any kind of danger."

"Alright. Got it." Just before she closed the channel, the Major said one last thing. "But before I got… Just tell him… 'Sorry for being so late'."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Understood. Beginning my approach to the target." Quint crouched down and slowly started to crawl through the heavy brush of the jungle, staying still every once in a while to simulate an animal or the wind. A group of three guards on the perimeter started their usual routes as they split off: One to the far side of the exit, one to the closest side to the exit and the last one to the middle. The one closest to her started to make his way over to her spot as she knocked tree. A few sounds of the forest died as the guard noticed it too. Another knock as he approached the tree.

Quint stepped right out of the cover from her spot as she smacked away the rifle to the side. Disoriented from the sudden attack, she closed in, grafting his throat to prevent him from yelling before a gut punch and finishing off with a clothesliner. It all happened in a split second as the man groaned on the ground before she fired a round at his neck, rendering him unconscious. Making a check to see if it had alerted anybody, she saw no-one and dragged the body off to the side.

_One down…_ Continuing on, Quint's Barrier Jacket shifted to a dark brown color with streaks of dark green and black. Taking cover behind a tree, she saw another guard making his rounds. Crouching down to hid herself, she slowly raised her pistol and fired at the closest one. Just like before, the guard hacked a cough before falling to the ground.

Shuffling over, Quint leaned her body against the rubble of the building, pistol at the ready. The other guard hadn't noticed that another one of his allies had been knocked out. As he turned to patrol the other way, she fired another shot knocking the last outside guard out.

The purple haired agent gave a sigh of relief. At least the outside was clear. Taking a quick peak over the rubble, she spotted another guard, seemingly unaware of what happened outside. With another potshot, the guard fell to the ground unconscious. A wide grin appeared on her face. Everything was going just as planned.

"Major, the guards have all been taken care of. Should I start my search for Flor?" Quint radioed in.

"Guessing from intel provided by the man… He should be in the northeast room of the ruins."

"Got it." With that, she hurried over to the northeast side.

* * *

-.-.-

* * *

"… This is Alina Alkaev reporting in. All things are clear here."

"… Anyone? This is Sergeant Alkaev… Is anybody there?"

* * *

-.-.-

* * *

As Quint slowly opened the door, a wave of heat radiated from the room. Pistol and free hand raised, she methodically stepped in, without alerting her presence. Next to a small black mini furnace was a man black suit. His hair slightly wavy and carried a grey-ish tint. A pile of papers were besides him as he gave a look to them before throwing a little of the pile into the flames.

_I'm still hungry and that fire might be good to cook up some… No Quint, stay focused!_

"So you must Flor?" She said. The man turned around, startled.

"Are you one of Harlaown's men?" He questioned in Shutran before frantically throwing the rest of the papers into the fire. "You'll never get it from me."

Raising an eyebrow and holding her weapon to the side, Quint switched over to Shutran to help ease his anxiety. "No. I'm an IIA agent. I've come to escort you to the other side of the Iron Curtain."

"You're IIA?"

"I was sent in by Major Graham who tried to get you out two years ago."

His eyes widen in surprise. "Graham…"

"I have a message from him. 'Sorry for being so late'."

A smile cracked on Flor's face as he sighed happily. "He's a man of his word." Shaking off the feeling, he briskly walked over to the window to check the outside. "But we have no time for this. We need to leave before they arrive."

"Who's they?"

"Colonel Harlaown of the GRU. You in the West know him as 'Frostbite' or 'Durandal'."

Quint may have a bad memory, but those names didn't ring any bells. "Never heard of him."

"He's a member of the army's extremist faction. Ever since the Juventud Missile Crisis two years ago, Zaporozhet has been seeking for peaceful co-existence with the West. Despite resistance and criticisms from the hardliner Soviet sects, he has been able to suppress the opposition thus far."

He started to pace about the room, as he continued. "But with his failing agricultural policies and the loss of his greatest ally only last November, he's in a precautious state."

"Wait, last November… President Edsel's assassination?"

"Exactly. With his power crumbling away, a certain group is plotting to overthrow him and replace him with Zavod and Ural in his place. The mastermind behind this plot is Colonel Harlaown of the GRU. He has control over another secret weapons research facility much like this one; the OKB-812 or the Acous Design Bureau."

"But that's not enough to satisfy him. He's planning to steal the weapon developed from my own Design Bureau and use it as an ace in the hole for power."

The man was scared as he started to fidget with his hands. "Intelligence says that they are planning to steal it during the test."

Quint's eyes widened. _… Crap, I shouldn't have knocked them all out!_ "You mean, the guards outside were sent to protect you?"

"Precisely. Their orders were to keep Colonel Harlaown from capturing me."

Silent hung between the two before Flor nodded at Quint. "He will come. I am sure of it. You must get me out of here before he arrives!"

Giving a reassuring smile, she nodded. "Let it to me." As she turned to the exit, Flor started again, this time in a heavy Shutran accented Mid-Childan. "By the way, your Shutran is superb. Where did you learn to speak it?"

Another smile. "From my mentor."

"Haimiria truly is a frightening country." He shuttered.

"Having second thoughts?"

"I have no love for this place. Let us go."

Cracking her radio to life again, Quint talked while she cautiously opened the door. "Major, this is Snake. I have reached Flor. He's fine."

"Excellent work Snake. Head to the rendezvous. We'll recover the both of you there."

Heading out the door, Quint held her pistol and free hand up as she surveyed the area. Looking left and right, the entire ruined facility looked quiet and the guards haven't woken up yet. Making a quick check on Flor, she saw the man doing something… odd. Maybe an imitation of her Strike Arts stance? Chuckling at the silliness of how he looked, she continued to go forward.

_Sound feels – _"FREEZE!"

Quint turned to face the voice as she saw KGB troops swing out of cover, their AK and MY rifles pointed at her and Flor. The man huddled close, terrified. Checking from the corner of her eyes, she was completely surrounded. A deep frown appeared on her face before she heard a voice.

"So you're the legendary Boss, eh?"

Quint quickly turned around to see another person approaching. Her Barrier Jacket was dark blue, almost black with highlights of white across the trims. A matching combination of faulds and cuisses laid on her legs, but parted to allow for maximum mobility. A black plackart at her just below her chest and finally a pink ribbon holding her blonde hair to the side. A tiger pin stuck firmly on it.

In her hand was a twirling pistol around her index finger.

The guards turned and raised their rifles at the woman. "You… You're from the Ocelot Unit of Spetsez." Some of the guards backed up a little. "What's a GRU soldier doing here?"

She stopped twirling her pistol and held it up right as a bit of a disappointing pout was on her face. "Soldier?"

"She's the Ocelot Commander!"

She scoffed and turned, as Quint noticed red eyes. "That's Major Ocelot to you!"

_She's a bit… flamboyant… _She frowned as the woman turned back with her hands in a gesture.

The guard was obviously unimpressed. "Flor's our business. Now get lost."

"An ocelot never lets her prey escape…"

"Wh-wha?" Quint noticed a small glimmer in the GRU soldier's eye. Grabbing Flor as fast as she could, she flew the man at the ground. Just as she did, the woman ejected a round from her pistol before firing at the KGB soldier's neck. Blood sputtered out, as the rest of the soldier's were too shocked to realize what had happened.

The soldier's that had surrounded Quint and Flor were easily cut down, this 'Ocelot' woman firing her pistol at the collective necks of the troops. She only stopped when the immediate threat had all died. Her hair now unraveled where the strange ponytail was, she looked around seeing if she had missed one. A yelp was heard as she pointed the pistol at an angle and fired. Not only a few seconds later did Quint hear a body slam against the floor.

Ocelot sighed as she reached down and grabbed her hair decal, brushing the dirt from it. "Can't say that it feels good to kill a comrade…"

Quint turned to Flor and motioned him to move out of way. Yelping, he did. Her attention back on Ocelot, she saw the woman with another one of those strange poses. The two locked their eyes on one another as Ocelot leaned in. "You're… Not the Boss are you?" she finally said.

Keeping her silence, Quint just kept her aim steady on the woman. The strange major aloofly turned around as she 'meow-ed' into the air as black hooded mages with matching uniforms appeared from the shadows as Flor's face became horror.

"G-G-GRU operatives!"

Unfazed, the Haimirian stayed in her stance as Ocelot started to circle her. She chuckled raising a quizzical eyebrow. "That stance... That gun… What is this?" She started to laugh as she motioned for the rest of the troops to follow suit. Their slow chuckles and cackles filled the air as Flor started to sink further and further away.

"Phfff, if you're not The Boss…" She said, tossing her pistol in the air. "Then die!" She turned and manually cocked her pistol as the slide jammed on the bullet.

Quint grinned as she quickly grabbed the woman and forcing her into a locked elbow behind her back. With just a little amount of force, she leaned her foot behind the restrained Ocelot before throwing her body at the ground but keeping her arm. A quick snap at her wrists and the pistol was thrown to the side.

Flor screamed as he ran from the facility and into the forest, terrified of what might possibly happen next.

"Major!"

"Forget him! Get this one!"

Boots already holding the blonde on the ground, Quint reacted to the closest troop, as he aimed to butt-end her with his staff rifle. Easily swinging her body to the side, she tied the trooper with her free hand and fired her pistol at the second closest one as he fell to the ground.

Meat shield at the ready, she ran her guard into another troop and pushed off as the two collided and fell to the ground. Another one came as again, she nimbly sidestepped the rifle hit and grabbed a hold of his neck. The awkward stance and strain at his body, she switched over to another one who tried to close in. Mana swelling in her body, Quint roared as she threw her shield to the ground and punched at the air. A burst of magic energy erupted from her free fist and pierced through the mage's Barrier Jacket as he launched backwards and crashed into the ruined walls.

Back into the ready stance, she looked around. All about her were unconscious GRU soldiers as she heard a person scrambling. Immediately turning around, Ocelot had gotten up and threatened to pistol whip her. Just before she could, the purple haired mage used her opponent's half-dazed attack against her, shifting the momentum of the hit to an awkward angle before uppercutting her face with her pistol hand. Just another quick shove and Ocelot was back on the ground, her pistol finally ejecting the bullet from the forced slam.

"D-Damn…" She groaned, her body twitching from the stress of Quint's attacks.

"Ejecting the bullet by hand eh? Not a very smart move… You were asking for your gun to be jammed."

For a moment, Quint could have sworn that she saw her one of her opponent's eyes change color. Brushing off the thought, she continued. "Besides, I don't think you are cut out for an automatic. Twisting your elbow from the recoil… That's more of a revolver technique."

The GRU mage's hands balled into fists as a maelstrom of magic wrapped around them. "You filthy… Haimirian DOG!" Hastily getting up, she lunged at Quint. Blocking the hit, Quint charged her own free hand with magic, bashing into Ocelot's ribs. With her opponent stunned, she violently spun the woman to her front, and rammed her into the ground.

Her free hand glowing with magic at Ocelot's face, Quint kept her pistol at the ready. "But that was some pretty fancy shooting… You're pretty good."

The blonde grabbed a hold on her hand, her lungs trying to recover from the bad hits. "P-Pretty g-good…" Exhaustion finally taking over, the woman collapsed.

Quint looked down at the girl. She was still young. Younger that her. Probably only twenty? She knew that at a young age, children had been able to go to war but _major_ at her age?

Sighin, she brushed the thought to the side. Flor ran into the forest and probably got lost. Cupping her face, Quint opened the radio channel again. "Major, do you read me?"

"I'm here. Something the matter Snake?"

"Ahh, I screwed up. Got caught by a few KGB and GRU soldiers but I managed to knock them out. Flor ran into the forest."

The Major seemed about to say something about the mission before he quickly realized what was said, "Wait, wait, wait… GRU soldiers? From who? Intel didn't have anything about this."

"Apparently there are some orders from a Colonel Harlaown. Something about an internal power struggle between the Zaporozhet supporters and Harlaown himself."

"Flor was being guarded by the KBG and hunted by the GRU?" His voice sounded very surprised. Maybe even a bit worried. "Snake, this sounds like it could be even hotter than Juventud."

"My gut is telling me the same thing."

"Are you sure it's not just your stomach?"

"Major, I'm being serious."

"I know, I know. And I agree. Best we hurry. Find Flor and head to the recovery point."

* * *

-.-.-

* * *

Only a few minutes later did Quint find Flor as he was standing just next to the rope bridge from earlier. He nervously paced back and forth, occasionally looking up. Reaching him, Quint made sure that the coast was clear. "You ok?"

"Those men were from the Ocelot Unit."

"Spetnaz?"

"The best that GRU has to offer!" He panicked. "I'm finished!"

"Calm down." She said stepping in front of his vision. "I promise to get you out of here. I Promise…"

Something boomed in the air as the two looked around. The trees shook and the birds all fell silent. Flor pointed his finger in the distance. "Look!"

Quint turned to see a strange tank looking thing in the distance. Smoke seemed to rise from a stock on it's 'shoulders' and its backend. A combination of tank and some type of mobile missile launcher. Taking out her binoculars, Flor started to speak again.

"There it is… The Fanzabastovka… 'The Phantom Strike'."

"That's what they were making you build?"

"Indeed. A tank that could fire nuclear IRBMs."

"It can fire from that slope?"

"And without support units too."

Quint gripped her binoculars. "A nuclear-equipped tank with an operating solo… Is it finished?"

"No, this is only Phase one." He shook his head. "It would be truly complete until Phase two."

She put her device away. "And that means?"

"The end of the Cold War if Harlaown and his men grab a hold of it."

"The end of the Cold War?" She repeated.

"And then the age of fear will truly begin…" He griped at himself looking away. "I had no choice but to cooperate. I didn't want to die…" Flor turned back to Quint. "Please, take me to Haimiria. They cannot finish it without my help!"

Nodding, the two started to make their way over the bridge. A misty air settled as Quint squinted her eyes. The cascading waters below dropping as something started to approach them. Readying herself Quint hauled and pointed her pistol at the figure. Slowly, its features became clear. Two pigtails with black ribbons holding them up. In its hands were two large heavy looking crates. Her stance… eerily familiar.

It stopped as the air started to clear. Quint's eyes widened in surprise. "Boss?"

True to her words, stood before her was The Boss. Her Barrier Jacket was not the same white that she was used to. Instead of bright white, it was covered in dark green. Looking heavy and stronger than it usually was. As if matching the black ribbons at her head.

"Boss?" She repeated. The brunette responded by dropping one of the crates, as its weight rocked the bridge. Flor leaned over on the vine railings, scared for his life. Dropping the other one, the scientist fell to the ground. Quint however, remained unmoved.

"Good work Quint." She said. Her characteristically content tone, now masked

"What are you even doing here?"

"Flor is coming with me."

Frowning, Quint stepped forward. The skies suddenly darkened as small bugs buzzed around. Turning one second away, a swarm of bugs descended on the both Quint and Flor as they tried to knock them away. "Wh-what? Insekts?"

Flor struggled from getting the bugs out of his sight as he felt something grab on to his waist. He yelled out as that something was pulled up to the skies, Quint only watching what happened.

Somehow a helicopter had made its way to over as she saw a person seemingly 'commanding' the swarms. His face covered by a black mask, the only thing that she saw of distinguishing feature was a dark purple red scarf around his neck. The armor he wore… Completely alien.

With the bugs now gone, she saw who had grabbed a hold of him. A mage with light blue hair some strange skin tight uniform, giving a little way to her waist, shoulders and neck. A playful smirk on her face as she nodded at The Boss.

"My friends," The Boss spoke, "Let us fight together again."

The blue haired one giggled and leaned against the hatch opening. "I've been waiting for this day!"

The strange bug master, grunted in a low growly voice. "We will fight with you once more."

"Now that all five of us are together, it's time we go to the depths of hell itsel-"

Something had cut her off. Looking around, Quint turned to The Boss, a clueless look to her face. It started to rain as streaks of red lightning flashed in the air. For a moment there, Quint thought she saw someone else walking towards the Boss. Its body was translucent, but colors remained.

A woman with ruby red eyes, and black Barrier Jacket. Though she wore a hood, Quint saw some blonde hair poking out.

"Red lightning… Is she crying?" The Boss asked the air turning from side to side in some awe. The mysterious figure gave a simple nod before disappearing. She turned around, as if she was expecting something or someone there.

For a moment, Quint saw the Boss in a moment of weakness. She was looking for something. Whether it was real, or gone in this world… She did not know.

Rain continued to fall as she heard another person approaching. The moisture in the air and in her throat felt like it was burning. What was once the warm jungle gave way to a chilling icy feeling as a man with black uniform walked over. His hair, dark blue. Scars of strange ice white covered his face as sparks of magic and ice flew from his body.

"Minokichi, minokichi…"

Seeing the powerful magic, Quint lowered her body and motioned to The Boss to do the same. But she didn't and stood where she was.

"Huh. What a joyful scene." He spoke, reaching the both of them. His voice was rough, and carried a certain throaty-ness to it.

"Colonel Harlaown…"

"Welcome to my country…" He held his hands out before gripping them in front of himself. "And my unit!"

Quint was… absolutely confused. The events that had just happened made no sense to her whatsoever, even for all the magic that had happened. Plausible but… bizarre.

"B-Boss… What is this?"

She walked closer to her, her hand at her side. "I am defecting to the Soviet Union. Flor is a little gift for my new hosts."

The purple haired mage stood, shocked. Did her ears betray her? Did her mentor, the woman that taught her everything that she knew… Was it ruse? No, it couldn't be; She's seen The Boss's 'serious face' before. And this was one of those things.

Chuckling, Harlaown picked up one of the cases. "Heh. Recoilless nuclear warheads… These will be a fine gift for me."

Thoughts in scramble, Quint's stance dropped. "Th… This can't be happening. Boss…"

"Who's she?" the man frowned. "Another one of your disciples?"

The Boss turned as Harlaown continued to peer at Quint. "No, this one is still pure. A child to us Cobras." She turned back to Quint, confusion and disgust on her face. "She has not yet found an emotion to bring into battle."

She raised her pistol, her free hand glowing with magic. "What are you talking about?!" She demanded.

The Boss continued to walk towards her as Quint shifted backwards. "Think you can pull the trigger?" she smirked. Looking down for a moment, Quint saw The Boss right on top of her as she smacked her back.

Pulling her pistol back up, the weight seemed to be missing. The entire barrel was gone; removed in a single motion. Awe struck, she looked back at the Boss who casually tossed back the bulk of the gun at her.

Seeing that it was useless, the purple haired mage threw the pistol behind her and threw a hook punch. The Boss easily blocked the hit and pushed the young mage behind her while still holding on to her arm. Mana charged around her elbow as she bashed it into her elbow with a sickening crack.

Quint yelled as pain shot up her arm. The hit drained at her Barrier Jacket's defense as it wavered. The bark-like texture gave out as it returned to a solid green color. Panting over, she slouched down on the bridge to Harlaown's own amusement.

"She's seen my face…" He warned putting down the cases. "If Zaporozhet finds out about this, we're finished." The GRU Colonel pulled out four bullet rounds from his underneath his Barrier Jacket. Shutran rimmed rifle rounds, nicknamed 'Stinger rounds'. Mana cracked at his every movement before he brought his hands crossing his chest.

"She must die."

The Boss stepped forward. "Wait. She's my apprentice. I'll take care of her." Satisfied with her answer, Harlaown lowered his hands and watched to see what would happen next.

Slowly, Quint got to her knees. Confused and tired, she looked at the Boss with half-gazed eyes.

"Quint. You can't come with us." Blinking, she saw The Boss extend a hand out. Her face, even with blurred eyes, she caught on something.

She breathed in a moment and reached out to her hand as The Boss pulled her up. Getting to her feet, The Boss yanked hard on her limb before delivering a magically charged blow to her ribs.

Quint coughed out as spit flew from her mouth. The attack barely protected against her Barrier Jacket. Looking over, all she saw was her once beloved mentor glaring. The purple-haired agent threw her hand out… only to see it stuck on the elbow that The Boss broke. Revelation became fear as The Boss clutched at Quint's throat. With incredible strength, she threw her over the bridge as Quint tried one last desperate attack.

Grabbing the black ribbon on the right side of her head, Quint plummeted to the rapids below, screaming. Her voice echoed all the way down booming thrash erupted from the waters.

The bug master Cobra chuckled. "The new blood has been rejected…"

Harlaown huffed as he went back to the crates and started to haul them away.

But in that moment, The Boss lifted one hand and rested it on the creaky railings of the bridge. Her voice low and forlorn.

"Goodbye… Quint."


	4. Chapter 3: Operation Snake Eater

**As MGS3 was a rated "M" game, this piece of fanfiction will eventually reach that point of being rated M. However, that wouldn't or maybe shouldn't happen until later. A few fans might know what I am talking about.**

**Also, as a friendly reminder that while rainbows are certainly straighter than Subaru, Quint might come as a close runner up. Because everybody's gay for Big Boss.**

* * *

**Time (Local): 0936 Hours – August 24, 1964**

* * *

Down the river at a cutbank, laid Quint face-first into the hard rocks as the familiar ringing of her radio played. Luck would have been the best way to describe what had happened in the past few minutes. During her fall, she remembered an old technique of the Strike Arts that The Boss taught her. A way to cushion any direct damage to the body in an instant. While it had no name, Quint called it the 'Barrier Purge' as it completely strip away at her Barrier Jacket, increasing its defensive capabilities far beyond than it can normally do.

The cost, however was that she was naked save some light clothing at her lower body and bra. The rapids and water damage from the fall hung her dark purple bra to the side. It was now just a flimsy piece of wet coloring as she tried crawling up the cutbank, her entire body aching. It hurt like hell… But she was alive.

Shifting her body to the side, she laid on her bruised right arm before turning to her back. A sharp pain spiked through her spine as Quint arched backwards. The skies were bright, only a few hours since touchdown. Painfully, she switched her radio on and collapsed back into the ground.

"Snake! Are you alright!?" The Major hastily asked. Quint coughed up more water before grunting out, "… Major, The Boss defected…"

"Wha-? What happened back there Snake? The radio caught a bunch of water sounds for several minutes."

"The Boss… She threw over the bridge..!" She cried out as her body continued to spike pain, making it difficult to speak. A brief shuffling was heard in the background as Paramedic's voice came on.

"Snake?! I heard what happened! Are you alright?"

"My left elbow… And my ribs…"

Her voice dropped low as the sounds of hair brushing against the microphone was heard. "Alright… I understand. Ok Snake. I need you to calm down and this'll be over before you know it."

Raspy breathing, Quint crawled herself closer to dry land. From the corner of her eyes, she saw her backpack with her, just further in. Bracing herself for more pain, she managed to struggle herself over.

"Snake… Please. Easy now…" Paramedic's voice tried to soothe and block out the pain.

Already, she felt numbness around her wounds but weren't realigned and snitched up; her healing with the medical mages might go astray. It was lucky enough that the backpack was only a few feet away.

"While I'm sure that you know how to clean and seal cut wounds Snake, but what about broken bones?"

"A little…" She admitted.

"Alright, we'll start from there. First I'll need you to straighten up yourself. This will hurt. A lot."

A fallen log was just besides the backpack as she rested her body against it. "Alright… Here we go…" the doctor's voice wavered a little. "Do you have something to bite down on?" Managing to chip off some parts of the log, Quint knew what would happen next. Putting them in her teeth she whimpered a yes for her to continue.

"You need to quickly pull down on your arm and then pull back right. I have trust in you Snake…"

Looking at the almost dangling limb, the purple haired mage grabbed a hold of it. Her breathing increased before snapping it down, and pulled it back into place. Eyes widening from the nauseating feeling and sound, Quint nearly swallowed the wood chips as she felt the feeling of her right arm again. Even with The Boss magically charged attack, her Barrier Jacket served her well from completely breaking the joint.

Spitting out the chips she managed to say, "Alright… Now the ribs right?"

"Unfortunately Snake, there really isn't much we can do about that." Her tone dropped to a whisper. "We'll have to fix you when we get back to the States."

Another grunting pain shot up from her ribs. "Isn't there anything we can do in field?"

"Just try to reduce any movement around that part of your body."

"… Alright… All I have now are cuts and I can get them easily."

"G-goodluck Snake."

Keeping the channel on her end might be compromising the mission, but the Major didn't seem to care at this point. Rummaging through the backpack, she found all that she needed: Sutures, bandages, disinfectant, ointment and finally a pack of her favorite cigars.

Throwing back the cigars she quickly poured a bottle of disinfectant on the cuts as the boiling feeling at the cuts seemed to make them bigger. At every touch, Quint grinded her teeth together as the quiet grunts from over the radio played into her ear. Only a few minutes later did she finish cleaning herself up, complete with a makeshift sling for her arm.

Defeated and laying over the log, she spotted something else that managed to flow down stream. The black ribbon that had tied one of The Boss's pigtails up. Fighting her way over to it, she gripped the hair decal and brought it close. It was large enough to make a headband for her.

_Boss… Why did you… _She silently wept as the Major started to speak again.

"We are coming to get you Snake. We'll drop a recovery balloon."

It was only a few minutes later when Quint heard the sounds of propellers. But it was too low and rapid for it to be the combat talon. Scanning the tree line, she spotted five Shutran helicopters with cables moving just above. Their formation was too calculated and close for them to be just flying casually. Tracing down, she saw the Fanzabastovka hanging by the cords.

For a moment, a flicker came from one of the helicopters. It was someone reaching their hand out. Her hand trembled for a moment as she reached out as well. She felt that it was The Boss. No, it must have been her!

And yet… As such as she tried to cry out to her, nothing came out. Her voice failed her as Quint collapsed down, tears falling from her face. _Boss…_

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Cats are very predatory creatures. Always on the hunt and sneaking about, a feline was to never back down from hunting prey. And when a cat is hurt, she is to steel herself and get better. By becoming better than the thing that bested her earlier.

That's why Ocelot continued to play with a bullet in her hands, silently venting her anger as if she had something else to do. Stuck in a helicopter back to base, there was already minimal sitting room. An ice bag had been given to her by a member of the Ocelot soldiers as she rested her chin into it. The touch was soothing from the quick uppercut that she received from that purple-haired agent only a few hours ago. Finally fed up with the ice bag, she tossed it to the side, and looked at her pistol. A few scuffs were on it, no doubt from the hand-to-hand combat.

The silence in the helicopter was only broken when Harlaown decided to pop open the crates. He cackled with manically glee staring into the warhead and launcher. Holstering the launcher, the Colonel nodded.

"Excellent… Thanks to The Boss and her Cobras, I have both Flor and the Fanzabastovka."

Ocelot frowned as an odor filled the copter. Perfume. Looking at the newest addition of goodies that they had obtained, she stood up and swung herself around.

The person in question had semi-long brown hair with two yellow hairclips parallel to each other. Her clothing was dark brown, much like most officers in the Shutran government. Glasses reflected her fragile eyes as she veered away from Ocelot's gaze.

"What are we going to do with the girl?" the blonde asked.

"Flor's woman?" Harlaown replied. He had nearly forgotten about the woman. A fine master piece of feminine touch. Approaching her, she tried to scoot herself away. A smirk appeared on the blue haired Colonel as he cupped her face and turned it towards him.

"Huh. Quite the looker…" He commented. "I'll take h-." Just before he could finish the sentence, the woman tried to pull out something from her bottom pocket. Scoffing, he grabbed her hand and pulled out whatever she was grabbing.

A small chromo colored tube with a fake applier.

"A Kiss of Death?" He grunted.

"Are you KGB?" Ocelot questioned. Her eyes scanned over the woman. She was wearing regular clothing, but still there was no telling what this woman could do. He handed back the one-shot pistol and stared into her eyes. A certain fire was in them.

Harlaown chuckled before manhandling her to the side. "She's got spunk. Now where was… Ah."

Shuffling back to the launcher, he slowly attached the miniature nuke and laughed. "We have no further use for Flor's research facility. I think it's time to give this new toy of mine a test."

Ocelot's eyes widened as she looked astonished by Harlaown's words. Seeing him bracing and taking aim, she tried to talk reason with him.

"Colonel! We can't just fire that into our countrymen!"

"Oh? But it wouldn't be _me_ that pulled the trigger. It will be our friend, the Haimirian defector…"

Shaking her head, she latched on to his shoulders. "You're going to nuke our fellow Shutrans?"

Growing bored of her morality; he shoved her aside with the launcher and took one final aim. "Remember the Alamo…"

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Having near fallen asleep, Quint snapped her head back up. A small white parachute was heading her way as something in the air felt dead. Everything had gotten quiet in the jungle. Alarmed, she slowly rose up before a gale-storm of wind roared up the stream. The light that pasted through the treetops reached blinding intensity as Quint shielded her eyes. Grabbing a hold of herself, and the nearby rock wall, she pulled herself to her feet and looked at the skies with squinted eyes.

Rising and rising like a fiery spirit was a billowing balling of smoke, undulating.

Wasting no time to care about the mushroom cloud, she limp-walked over to the parachute and opened the packet. Groaning as she unrolled the contents, a balloon started to rise up. With the last bit of her strength, Quint latched the harness around her body and fell unconscious.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

_Hey Boss! _

_Visions of a dry long field before her she pranced over to a much taller woman. She turned and nodded at her. _

_Hey Boss, I'm getting deployed soon! To that place in the Asian continent! I think it was called Chosun! It's going to be my first real combat experience!_

_While she couldn't see the many features of the woman, she knew that she was smiling at her. Slowly, the shadow started to shrink away._

_I'll be back soon!_

Gasping for breathe; Quint leaned forward as she felt every part of her body rebelling against her. Things still hurt. It meant that she was still alive.

She took a second to regain focus as the rest of her sense came back. Her clothing was gone, leaving her naked safe for some basic wrappings around her chest and groin and rough cotton gown. Twitching her fingers, she checked to see if they were still there. And they were.

The room was single area all to her. A few chairs circled around the bed. To the side of the hospital bed as a small vase of flowers. Orange impatiens with green carnations hung over the sides, and gave her a soothing feeling.

A sigh of relief flowed through her body as Quint leaned back into the bed. Checking to the side, she noticed a black ribbon. It was the Boss's ribbon. Somehow, it managed to stay in her hands after she passed out. Reaching over with her unbroken arm, she yanked the ribbon away. She cradled with band as her eyes darkened over. The woman that she had seen as her mother, the one that was at her side, teaching everything that she knew of… was gone.

Something was swelling in her stomach as she overheard sounds coming from outside. Through the partially screened glass, she saw two figures arguing with another person. Hastily hiding the ribbon in her legs, the two figures marched into the room. IIA agents in black suits.

"Are you Quint?"

"… Yes."

"We have some questions for you…"

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Minutes dragged on as they became hours and Quint's mood continued to sour. She figured out that two days or so passed since she passed out from exhaustion during the Virtuous Mission. The mage agent was hungry and she continued to have her stomach growl, while the IIA agents continued to pound her with questions.

Most of them were a variation of the same ones before: 'Where is The Boss?', 'How did she obtain the Davy Crocket bombs?', 'Are you associated with The Boss?'. Irritation rose to anger as she tried to save herself from punching one of these men from a magic infused fist.

"What is the whereabouts of The Boss?"

"I don't know…"

"How can we trust someone, a person as close as you were, to believe that you aren't lying?"

"How can I answer that?!"

One of the agents, named Anglia stepped forward to his partner Blazer. "Why are so resistant about The Boss's defection? She. Is. A. Traitor."

"She was my mentor…"

"She could have been a spy right from the beginning! A sleeper agent to continuously siphon off information of the top most secrecy! She is a manipulative _bitch_ that-." Quint snapped as she pulled the man with her broken hand and caved his face in with her unbound arm. The man slid on the floor from the hit as Quint threatened to get out the bed, only held back by the wires from the machines. Her eyes swelled with raging tears as she bit down, swallowing her pain.

Blazer briskly walked over to his partner as he pulled him up. "That's enough questions for today… Good night Miss Quint." With the two exiting the room, she looked over to the clock on the wall. It was past two am in the morning. They were talking for over five hours.

Her stomach growled as she knew that the cafeteria was closed for the night. Her eyes gazed over to the bed as she spotted the black ribbons again. Managing to walk herself back to the bed, she curled herself in a little ball before falling into a deep slumber.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

The next day was met with similar results. More IIA agents came by to ask question, this time more on the situation with this 'Colonel Harlaown'. A high ranking official in the government, it was hard pressed to find any evidence to support her story. Luckily they came early in the morning.

When it hit lunch time, Quint received some of the hospital food. Just as she thought, it was mediocre at best. After her third order of Reuben sandwiches, Chicken Caesar salads and Pasta Primaveras, the nurses filed out an order regarding to hold all food from her until dinner time. Fuming to herself with a glass of orange juice, Quint was sitting up in the bed, the Boss's ribbon now firmly over her forehead in a headband.

Seeing two figures outside the door, she quickly removed it and hid it underneath her bed. As the door opened, she was greeted by a familiar face and one not so familiar. The first person was a man, middle-aged with streaks of white along his brown hair. A bulky mustache rested in the space between his upper lips and nose. His chin and sides coated with an equally similar coated beard. It was Major Gil Graham.

The other person, on the other hand, was roughly her age. Long violet hair traced down her face as a fair amount of it covered her left eye. Some of her long hair trickled down in front of her shoulders. Her features were motherly, but carried a bit of firmness. She kindly smiled over at Quint.

"Hello there Quint."

She blinked in response. It was Paramedic's voice. "So you're Paramedic?"

"Yes, but like I said before, if you made it back from the mission, I'd tell you my name. I'm Precia. Precia Testarossa."

Graham nodded at the both of them. "Yes. As you see, when you passed out it was Doctor Testarossa here that managed to stabilize you before we reached back home. And even then, as you slept for the past two days, she made the occasion to check up on you. She is an excellent field medic."

The purple haired agent nodded and smiled. "Thank you Doc."

She laughed, bowing her head a little. "Please, just Precia."

Feeling a bit relieved, Quint slowly pulled out The Boss's black ribbons and wrapped it around her head in a headband. Clearing his throat, Graham stepped forward again. "Right, now then, Quint I have some other news to tell you." He turned to Precia. "If you would allow us."

"No problem."

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

In an open area on the rooftops of the hospital, Quint rested against a conveniently placed bench with her IV stand besides her. Graham paced back and forth in front of her, compiling his thoughts. Turning to her, he went straight to business.

"So how does it feel to be treated in the most advance ICUs in the world?"

Growling she leaned back. "Can you tell the suits about the visiting hours? I'll never get better with them bombing me with questions." The older man frowned and withdrew a small packaged stick from his pocket. It was a brown wrapping with white letterings on it as he handed it over to her.

"Here. Eat this."

"Why?"

"You're always upset when you're hungry." Grumbling she took the package, unraveled it, and took a bite. Milk chocolate surrounding peanuts glazed over with caramel and nougat-ly goodness.

"Better?"

Quint smiled widely as she continued to take bites. "Better."

The aging Major sat down next to Quint as he looked at the skies and exhaled. She's seen him like this before. More news.

"I bet your wondering why I came in today."

"Just to say 'get better'?" She said sheepish.

"Funny and yes, but that's not all why I came here." He paused for a moment to calm the both of them. "Quint, I think its time to clear Riot Force 6's name."

"What are you talking about?"

"We have just one shot to come out of this on top."

Quint shifted in her seat. She figured that with the political situation of The Boss defecting, the IIA might go to drastic measures to ensure their silence. "And this chance is..?"

"Yesterday, the White House received an unexpected call… It was a hotline call from Zaporozhet to President Aurora." Reaching over to his pocket, he pulled out his own device, the _Cerberus_. A glove-based device made similar to Quint's own, but instead of a dark purple hue, it was replaced with metallic orange. A small attachment hooked ear pieces to them as he handed one to Quint. Taking it, she listened on to what was going on. It was midway through a conversation, but she could guess what they were talking about.

"… _know that our of soldiers defected to your country a few days ago?"_

"… _No."_

"_So you haven't heard then. The man that arranged the defection was a GRU Colonel by the name of Chrono Clydeovitch Harlaown."_

"_Harlaown? Hmph, why am I not surprised? Of the Zavod faction. Go on… Who is this soldier?"_

"_Her name is The Boss. She's a living legend. During World War II, she was the one who lead us to victory, even marching to the Sankt Kaiser's doorstep. In Shutra, you know her as 'Belyy D'yavol'."_

There was some shuffling in the background.

"_You mean… THE Boss? The White Devil herself? The mother of your Special Forces?"_

"_The very one. And she took two miniature nuclear warheads with her. The 'Davey Crocket' portable delivery system was completed two years ago. Even though they were mass-produced, they had never seen actual battlefield experience thanks to their complications with weight and launching capabilities with the lack of strong enough mages."_

"_But that weapon, it completely obliterated Flor's research facility and yet you claim that it has not seen success?"_

"…_I can only offer you my deepest condolences for the lives lost."_

"_So… The Boss, with Colonel Harlaown's help, stole two 'defective' nuclear shells and took them with her as a gift when she defected. Then shortly after, Flor's design laboratory was destroyed by one of these weapons?"_

"_Yes. That is correct."_

"_And the Haimirian government denies any involvement in the affair, is that right as well?"_

"_That's correct. We were not involved in any sort of way."_

"_Then what was a US military aircraft doing on our radar screen? It was clearly a violation of our airspace! And yet you say, it was not acting under your orders?"_

A trickle of sweet dropped down from Quint's sides. It was lucky enough that the GRU faction that they were dealing with was not in league with the current regime or this would have been a complete storm.

"_That's correct."_

"_You expect me to believe that this all came from a single soldier? Even if it was 'Belyy D'yavol', even she needed help killing the Sankt Kaiser."_

"_I don't know what else to tell you."_

The Shutran Premier deeply sighed. _"The army factions all believe this to be a ploy on your part."_

"_I've said it once, and I'll say it again. We are not involved in any sort of way."_

"_And I would like to dearly believe you. However, my power over the military has waned over the years. I will need some kind of proof that this was not the action of the Haimirian Government."_

He paused before continuing, dotting his words carefully and clearly. _"You have one week. You must catch The Boss yourselves and recover the remaining nuclear device. Then you must prove in some way of your innocence."_

"_Our innocence?"_

"_Prove to me that this is not one of your tricks."_

"_The Boss should be close to Colonel Harlaown. How about a little coaction?"_

"_I would not expect much if I were you. With the political situation and Harlaown's membership with the Zavod faction, it will be difficult to do anything as of now." _He paused to catch his breathe.

"_One week. You have one week and, if its not too much to ask, do something about Harlaown as well."_

"_And what if we can't 'prove our innocence'?"_

"_Then I will be unable to restrain the military. I leave the disposal of the situation entirely under your discretion."_

The audio died as Graham pulled away their earbuds and bowed his head. "To put it simply" he explained, "in order to avoid a full-scale nuclear war, we have to prove that Haimiria was not involved in that explosion."

Lowering her head, Quint pulled at the ends of her new headband. "And eliminating The Boss will prove that?"

Nodding he continued. "The higher ups have decided that only you are the only capable of pulling this off. You are her last apprentice. There's no backing away from this now Quint. It's this or face execution."

He stood back up and bowed his head again. "I leave you to console your feelings."

As Quint watched him exit the open area from the corners of her eyes, she scared at the concrete-like ground. It had come to this. A fight against her mentor. Strange irony. Remembering what The Boss had told her, the only thing that she could have trust in was the mission. It was a soldier's duty to follow the mission.

But if it meant killing, the thing that she had treasured in life… Was it really something that she could do?

* * *

**Several Days Later – 2330 Hours – August 30, 1964 – Arctic Ocean Airspace**

* * *

Cramped into a small pod, the purple-haired mage tapped at the maneuverable joysticks. At the moment, they were mainly just for show as it calmed her nerves. Unlike the HALO jump she nearly a week ago, there was no room to smoke. At least there's a pack of gummy bears, or at least there _was _a pack of gummy bears. Even if the Belkans had nearly conquered the European continent, God bless them for making such a delicious treat.

The interior was lit just enough so that she could seen around. Her face only a few inches away from a green screen, she rested her head against the pod's head rest. A small bump from the side meant that her new headband was still firmly on.

A few seconds later, and Graham's voice echoed inside. "Snake, we can't risk a HALO jump this time around. The Soviet's have stepped up airspace security. So instead, we'll be using our latest technology. You've been given honor on par with Alan Maxwell Shepard. Show your patriotism. If you fail, you'll be back in a hospital bed again, waiting for a firing squad."

"Are the Shutrans going to be helping us?"

"The KGB has promised to lend us one of their communications satellites and a few insiders."

"Insiders?"

"There was a defection in September 1960, the NSA code breakers. Do you remember it?"

"Yeah, I remember it."

"Apparently they have been training with the KGB for this type of operation. Their codenames are 'Adam' and 'Eva'. Adam has infiltrated Harlaown's ranks. He has also been stated to provide a type of escape route. You'll need to rendezvous with him. I'll explain more when you get on the ground."

Noticing a sudden rotation of her pod, Quint's body was now leaning towards the other side of the pod. Bracing herself, she felt weightless as the pod detached from the aircraft. A moment later and Quint felt her body rushing towards the end of the pod. Trying to keep her eyes open for the infiltration drop, she looked at the screen. So far no enemy aircraft.

Faster and faster she accelerated as her hands gripped at the joysticks. The automated systems flashed red as retrorockets fired, slowing down the pod to slower speeds. Crossing her arms over her chest, Quint braced for the next part. The bottom of the pod gave out as she felt straight through, the pod continuing forward and brushing against the treetops.

A parachute popped just as she flew through, to help decrease her speed. Bashing through tree branches, she spotted the earth and unclipped her parachute pack. She hit the ground, tumbling and rolling to protect her body from greater harm. Even though she received special magical and clinical medicine, the wounds hadn't completely healed as dulled pain came from her right elbow and lower chest.

Finally, she stopped and looked up. The moon lit up the surrounding area, leaving dark shadows around the trees. It wasn't as dark as she hoped, but it would do the job. Her Barrier Jacket quickly changed to a full black color as she got up to one knee. Flicking her radio back on, she called in.

"This is Naked Snake. I've made it to the ground without trouble."

"Excellent work. We can hear you loud and clear."

"I got blown pretty far off-target. No clue how that happened."

"There isn't much we can do with that." He reassured her. "Now, let us go over our objectives. Rescue Flor. Find out what's happened to the Fanzabastovka and destroy it. And finally, eliminate The Boss."

The words still hung in her head when Graham brought it up.

"This mission will be code-named 'Operation Snake Eater'."

"Because I'll be up against The Boss and her Cobra Unit, correct?"

"And let's not forget about Colonel Harlaown."

"I'm no hired killer…" She said dryly.

"I know. But it was the Krelim's demand."

"Wait, that's demand? I thought it was just a request. So what if the Zaporozhet regime is threatened?"

"If supporting the current regime will aid us in avoiding nuclear Armageddon, then we'll do that."

"And the IIA's demands?"

"The rescue of Flor and the destruction of the Fanzabastovka."

"Roger that Major Toyota."

"Hold on Snake."

"Hm?"

"I'm changing my codename. Something more suitable for our current situation. We are starting right from the beginning again, to clear our names. A fresh slate. Clean. Hmmm, let's just use Zero, like we had always done."

She couldn't hold back a little smile. "Alright then, Major Zero. Looks like it's square one."

"Well… Square Zero." He chuckled. "My frequency is the same as before. 140.75. Oh. Almost forgot. Paramedic is also with us on this mission."

"She is too? It is her redemption shot as well?"

"If we fail, then we medical license will be revoked. It's less or more the same fate as us. Same frequency as before. 144.65. And one more person. Remember the mask we discussed almost a week ago?"

"Yeah, and?"

"We also have him on staff as well. His name is Mister Sigint. He's an expert in the latest weapon design and equipment technology. His frequency is 148.75."

"Hmm, got it."

"Adam, your KGB contact is waiting for you in the abandoned research facility, the same one that Flor was in during the Virtuous Mission."

"And how will I know if it's him?"

"The place is completely irradiated. I doubt that anybody else would come to this area. But just in case, we created a password. It is 'Who are the Patriots?' and its answer is 'La-li-lu-le-lo'."

"'Ra-ri-ru-re-ro'?" She asked. "What does it mean?"

"Absolutely nothing. To anybody else, it would be complete gibberish. A perfect way to make sure if he's the spy or not." He paused. "Quint can you say that again? 'La-li-lu-le-lo'."

"Ra-ri-ru-re-ro."

"… Close enough. You've been equipped with a .45 this mission as you are aware."

Quint unclipped the pistol from her side. Fitted with a suppressor, the pistol was a mass-weapon. It was as non-lethal as the shooter made it.

"I thought RF6 protocol was to leave no traces of our…. Oh wait, we need to prove that we were here in some fashion, right?"

"To a small extent, yes. But remember, this is a Sneaking Mission."

Standing back to her full height, she breathed in the air. "Understood. Commencing Operation Snake Eater… Now."

Turning off the radio she made her way into the jungle again, the nighttime sounds echoing all around. With a black uniform, she was nearly visible unless she stepped into the open moonlit areas. That's when she needed to manually switch to another color. Hopping down a ledge, she heard the neighing of a horse. Frowning, she flicked the radio back on.

"This is Snake. I have a question to ask."

"Yes, go on Snake."

"Are there any horses in the Tselinoyarsk region?"

"That isn't exactly my field. Paramedic?"

"Yes, I am here… I checked a few times. Horses aren't native to that region. In fact, there really shouldn't be any of them there at all."

"Maybe you're just hearing things?"

Scratching her head, she sighed. "… I'll figure out eventually."

Skirting past some of the brush, she entered an open area as the moonlight displayed the area. It was the crash sight of the pod that she was in and next to it was a… White horse? Approaching it, the animal looked over at her. Taking slow breathes; it seemed unfazed by her appearance.

"Looks like death wasn't ready for you after all."

Quint turned around, pistol up and freehand charged with magic as she saw The Boss, her uniform cloaked over with some black cape-like dress. Her appearance was almost the same, but instead of her usual twin pigtails, she wore her hair into one side ponytail to the right side of her head.

"Boss?" She asked, lowering her weapons as the mana dissipated. "What are you doing here?"

Blue eyes gleamed for a moment. _Aww, crap!_ Just as Quint raised her weapon, The Boss was already on top of her, forcibly grabbing the weapon and throwing her down to the dirt. Looking back up, she saw The Boss break the pistol and toss the pieces behind her. Her Barrier Jacket was its usual white color, but somehow reinforced without limiting mobility.

"Go home." She grunted.

But she would not back down. Charging her hands with magic, she threw a left straight, only to see it dodged. The Boss took the opening and whacked at her still injured rib before using her forward momentum to throw her down again.

"Go home." She said again. "GRU and my Cobras are waiting just ahead. And what do you have? You're virtually unarmed." Marching away from her, Quint stood back up and shrunk her hands into fists. "Boss!"

She stumbled for a second before swinging a right hook. As lazy as it was done, the white clothed mage deflected the hit and elbowed her in the injured ribs again before shoving her into the ground.

"I'm not your boss anymore. There's nothing for you here." Glaring down at her, she pulled out a device. An extremely small stocked and barreled mage stave. A drum magazine sat at the feeding mechanism almost like it was meant for the device. Dull almost blacked colors of gold made up the most of the device, with its handle primarily white with salmon pink highlights. And in the near center of it, was a cracked and dulled red ball.

It was The Boss's signature weapon, The Raising Heart.

Taking aim at the pod before her, streaks of orchid pink swirled and zipped through the air, from the barrel of the device and in the general area around her hand. She was firing the weapon one-handed. Shortly after, the pod exploded with a loud crash as Quint sat there, in shock and awe. Fire and smoke rose from the pod as The Boss turned back to her.

"That should stir things up a bit. You'd better hurry and get back home." Her voice was threatening to almost sneering at her. A flash of lightning cracked the sounds of the fire as she looked to the skies. It slowly started to rain as Quint covered her eyes. Just like that one moment back over the bridge, a taller hooded figure appeared behind The Boss, her red eyes looking up as well.

The brunette continued to walk away from Quint, who managed to get to on all fours. "The border is sixty three miles from here. You should be able to make it if you start running."

The Haimirian agent tried to crawl after her before looking down. "Why'd you defect?"

"I didn't… I'm loyal to 'the end'. To my purpose. And what about you Quint?" She turned and faced her former apprentice, her eyes daring. "Loyalty to me, or loyalty to your country? Your beliefs or your mission? Your personal feelings or to your unit?"

Only on her fours, she watched the White Devil walk over and grabbed the black overcoat and threw it over her Barrier Jacket. "You aren't ready." Getting on the white horse, she looked down as the rain poured harder. "Just look at the bandana. If you can't put the past behind you, you won't survive here."

The horse bucked backwards as its hooves threatened to crush her hand. Pulling back, Quint was able to avoid it. "We meet again… And I'll kill you." The Boss declared before trotting off.

Defeated once more, she looked around at the remains of her pistol. Completely unsalvageable. Groaning for already screwing up, she turned her radio on once more.

"This is Snake. Come in Major Zero."

"This is Major Zero. Go ahead."

"I was just ambushed by The Boss."

"You what?"

"The pod's been shot to hell and she broke my pistol."

"That means all you have left is magic… Damnit."

"There has to be leak somewhere. There's no way that she should have known that I was being deployed here."

"That's not possible. Zaporozhet isn't exactly on speaking terms with Harlaown." He paused for a second. "Just how did she double-cross us like this and… How a hero like herself turns to the Shutrans is a matter beyond me. But if you don't accept that, then you'll be able to beat her."

"That's not the problem. There's no way for me to beat her in technique. That I'm certain of."

"You HAVE to do it Snake, it is your mission and objective. She is the enemy."

"We've been together for ten years and know you're calling her my 'enemy'?"

"Enough of this. Rendezvous with Adam at the abandoned research facility."

"… Roger." She said begrudgingly. Closing the channel, she started to head towards the facility as she heard the ruffling of footsteps just ahead. Diving into the brush, she waited for the investigating guards to pass by. They gasped at the wreckage as they started to call back to their base. Taking the opportunity, she snuck by and continued deeper.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

It was only a few minutes when Quint arrived at the factory, her hands in the Strike Arts ready position. A bright white light blinded her as Quint heard the sounds of a motorcycle in idle. Shielding her eyes, she tried to see who was doing this. A woman with a helmet.

"Sorry I'm late." She said.

"Cut the engine, or they'll hear us." She warned.

"Are you the agent they sent?"

"You're not Adam… Adam's supposed to be a man."

"Adam couldn't make it."

"… Alright then, say the password. Who are the Patriots?"

The woman was silent as Quint repeated herself. "Who are the Patriots?"

Again, silence. "Damnit, answer me!" The clinking of rifles and staves alerted her as she looked behind her. GRU soldiers had heard the sounds and quietly popped out and surrounded her. Shifting right to left, she didn't have much opinions. A single move and she was dead.

"Get down!" The woman yelled as Quint immediately dove. In a single fluid motion, the biker woman withdrew a pistol from her side. Firing at semi-automatic, she tilted the weapon parallel to the ground as its recoil shifted the muzzle in a long arch around. Just a few short seconds passed when Quint's body hit the ground. And in that span of time, all the GRU soldiers were dead, a shot to the weak neck killing them quickly.

The light from the motorbike died and the woman quickly reloaded the pistol. Kicking down the stand and killing the engine, Quint was able to get a better look at the person. It was definitely a woman but her uniform was better seen under the moonlight. A white overcoat with a bit puffed out shoulders, she also had a black miniskirt-estic style for her legs as it was trimmed with yellowish-gold. Taking off her helmet, semi-long brown hair poofed out. On her left side were two red intersecting hairclips that really seemed to serve no purpose.

Making her way over to Quint, she slowly unzipped the middle of her Barrier Jacket, revealing well-endowed chest, held back by black leather-like bra. Blushing heavily, Quint couldn't help but stare.

"I'm Eva…" The brunette smiled with a playful grin.


	5. Chapter 4: Boxes and Ocelots

**ECLIPSE VIRUS SON!**

**Yes I do (hopefully) want to continue this to roughly Revengeance.**

**As of 09-29-2013 as I write this, Lyrical Nanoha FORCE as been set on long-hiatus… Well, it certainly makes my RPing for a BetrayerS FORCE era easier to make character expies like Vandein being an 'Albert Wesker' like villain.**

**Also! I changed the picture for the cover. (Don't know when its going to show up) Drew it myself. I am a terrible artist.**

* * *

**0100 Hours**

* * *

In the room where Flor was once held, Quint was taking a quick smoke of her cigar. The dim light from the front faintly glowed against the dark bluish moonlight. And to top things all off, she had this woman, Eva, instead of Adam. She knew the biblical references between the names, and ironically her own in this situation, but something in her gut gnawed around wrongly.

She exhaled a puff of smoke before turning to Eva. "This wasn't part of the plan. So where is Adam?"

Deflecting the question, the brunette asked, "What's your codename?"

"Snake."

The biker woman walked over to the bed that Quint was smoking on. "Snake… Are you here to tempt _me_?" she coyly asked. Dryly looking away, she shifted herself a bit further when Eva sat down next to her.

"Answer the question. What happened to Adam?"

"Colonel Harlaown is a very suspicious man. He decided to keep an eye out on him for awhile. So we decided that I was going to replace him for tonight."

Playing with the cigar in her mouth, Quint decided to change the subject. "I heard that you used to be a code breaker for the NSA."

"That's right. Four years ago Adam and I defected to the Soviet Union." Her eyes crept around Eva's choice of clothing for night as she took notice to the pistol at her side. A mass weapon that she was familiar with. "Mauser? C96?"

The brunette lightly smiled, tapping its characteristic wooden handle. "Always a good weapon to have on a bike."

"I also saw that you used stripper clip and combining that with sideways muzzle jumping firing technique… Gotta say, very impressive."

Eva pulled the weapon out and held it to her parallel to her face. "Bet you never seen that in West."

"But it's an imitation right? The symbols on the side?" Quint quickly glanced at the weapon. On its side were white letters, definitely not Belkan.

"That's right; it's a Zhonghua Type 17 pistol. You got quite the sharp eyes." She bowed her head a little in respect before taking in another puff of her cigar. Eva turned around and grabbed something off the table. It was a pistol, much like the .45 she had before The Boss broke it. It even had a suppressor.

_At least, it's _some _proof that she was there. _The purple-haired agent thought as Eva handed her the pistol. "But this… This one is Haimirian made."

She casually looked at the pistol, before taking a double look. Taking it from her hands, she immediately set down her cigar and stamped out the little flicker end. Something or somethings caught her eye.

"The feeding ramp is polished to a mirror sheen. Slide's been reinforced. The interlock with the frame has been tightened for extra position."

Eva giggled as her partner continued to gawk about the weapon. "Sight system is original; thumb safety is extended to make it easier on the fingers; A long type trigger with non-slip grooves, a ring hammer, and even the base of the trigger guard has been filed down for a higher grip."

Wanting to test the firing system, she held out the pistol away from Eva and pulled on the trigger. A quiet clink sound. Perfect harmony in her ears. When she turned back to Eva, she rested it against her cheek. "Where did you even find this?"

"A Western munitions armory. It might have belonged to one of the US officers." She grabbed a few more things from the table and started to walk over. A tranquilizer pistol, a can of sorts and what looked to be like a doctor's coat.

"Hm? What's that?" Quint asked, pointing at the doctor's coat.

"A disguise that helps you looks like a scientist."

"Why's that?"

"Security is tight around the place, especially with an army of scientists helping build new weapons for Harlaown's soldiers. Last time I checked, Flor was in the Design Bureau just north from here. But if you disguise yourself as one of them, you might be able to sneak in."

"So the best way to get into the lab is…"

"Through the rear." She said, starting to pace in the room. "First, you need to head through the jungle north from here, until you reach a heliport. Just beyond there is a large crevice. Go through there and you'll arrive at a mangrove swamp. Passing through the swamp will be a warehouse and just beyond that are the labs. Flor should be there."

Stopping, she turned back to Quint who was filing down on the pistol's handle with a combat knife. "And what are you doing right there?"

"Rubbing down the handle just in case I need a knife in close quarters battle."

"But don't you have your magic to support with that?"

"Yes, but every armed forces nowadays having magic supported troops, they tend to forget that they do get winded from over-extended magic use and can't charge of their attacks. Just in case I do get tired enough from fighting, I can always just switch over to regular tactics like a normal soldier."

"And where did you learn this?"

She fell silent for a moment before admitting, "The Boss. She was always one for unorthodox tactics, even if she was a combat mage." There was a few times when she was younger, learning the basis tactics with mages where she had learned that sometimes magic really can't solve everything, even with its inherent non-lethality.

Smiling at her craftwork, Quint slid the knife back into her breast holder and took up the can. Resting on the top was a pin. A dark yellow band wrapped around the middle. "And this thing?"

"It's a stun grenade, according to the scientists. It produces a blinding white light and high pitched ringing sound that would do exactly what is it. Stun the person or people surrounding it. Sorry that I couldn't bring any more."

"Mana based?"

"Nope. Some type of metal-oxide reaction."

Tilting her head, this was definitely a find. She did overhear Major Graham talking about the Mid-Childan's developing their own type of non-magical stun weapon, but she guessed that the Shutrans had developed one as well. Standing back up, she nodded. "Right. So let's get going."

"Wait, what do you think you are doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look a little tired. Why don't you rest your head for a while?"

She frowned, still feeling fine. "I'll be good." Attempting to get past her, Eva held her hand out, blocking her path. "I don't think so. It's a jungle out there and you'll need your energy to get through."

"And you? Don't you need to head back?"

"Yeah… Or else they'll get suspicious that one of their own disappeared."

Quint sighed as she turned her head to the ground with her pistol, playing around with the suppressor. Eva raised an eyebrow and walked over. "A bit disappointed are you? All right then, how about I do something special for you?"

Her eyes lit up as she watched her.

"I'll stand on guard as you sleep. So be a good girl and lay down." Her eyes slanted down, her mood dropping a little below neutral.

"Something the matter?" Eva asked.

"I don't trust you well enough."

"How well do you have to know me to trust me?"

"Hmph… I don't know if I can trust anybody."

A low sigh escaped her lips as she leaned up against the door to the room. Eventually, the Haimirian gave up. "Alright fine… I'll take a nap." Closing her eyes, she quickly fell asleep.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

With a glazy film over her eyes, Quint started to wake up. The feeling of sleepiness still present, her chest started to feel a bit heated. It was a bit relaxing, especially where it was coming from. A blissful sigh escaped her lips as the pressure stopped for a moment then continued. Her eyes started to crack open to see a long clean brown hair. To the side were two crossing red hairclips.

But the weariness of sleep immediately died down as something outside the room alerted her sense. Quint immediately turned her head to the side and peaked out the window. The pressure had also disappeared as Eva looked at her with some concern. "What is it?" She asked.

"Four soldiers just outside…" The agent lifted the tranquillizer pistol in her hand, having stowed the mass-round pistol at her side. The brunette looked out the window as well and cursed under her breath.

"It's the Ocelot unit." Motioning to the bed that Quint was on, she added, "Let's get out of here. Quick!" She grabbed a hold of one side of the bed as Quint did the other. "One. Two. Three..!"

Both of them pulling up, the bed easily lifted off the ground. Turning it sideways, it revealed a small hatch. Once back on the ground, Eva grabbed on to the knob end of the hatch and opened it. "We can use this to escape." The first one down, she crouched and ducked her head underneath the ground and shook her head. "Damnit… Ocelot…"

Quint's eyes slanted when she heard the name. It was the twenty some year old Major that appeared roughly a week away. She probably guessed that there was a chance that she would be facing off against her, but twice in the same area? And accompanying her men?

"I'm going on ahead. Gotta make sure that she doesn't see my face." Eva reminded her. Her attention whirling back over, Quint nodded.

"Looks like I'll keep them occupied then." She chuckled as Eva leaned over and gave her a peek on the cheeks. Her face lit up, confused and astonished.

"Don't go dying on me." She whispered before closing the hatch door. The sounds of her hands and feet scratching on the ground slowly moving away.

"Move!" commanded Ocelot as her troops footsteps started to walk over to the room. She readied her self whiling thinking of her options.

_Can't go through there now… _The purple-haired agent frowned again. Her Barrier Jacket still the black color from yesterday, Quint looked around the room. Faded red with patches of brown, she knew exactly what colors she wanted. The pattern slowly shifted from black to dark red with patches of green and red. It would at least keep her from getting detected too easily.

The footsteps were getting closer as she was running out of time. Remembering the stun grenade that Eva gave her, she held it close before hiding under the shifted bed. Now it was the waiting game.

The footsteps stopped at the door as she wrapped her finger around the pin. Somebody cocked a shotgun outside and fired it at the door slowly fell to the ground. She quickly removed the pin and threw it into the nearby room. Closing her eyes and plugging her ears, the grenade exploded.

Even with covered ears, the loud ringing and shock disoriented her for a moment. Her ears felt like somebody had just smashed them at the eardrums, but at least it wasn't painful as the other troops that were just outside. Hopefully. Quint hesitantly opened her eyes to see four Ocelot troops on the ground, making various discombobulated noise. Trying to get up, Quint raised her tranq pistol at the soldiers and fired. It didn't need to be a direct hit around the head; with the way they were, knocking them over would have done the same. She was already lucky that the troops were in a small enough formation just outside the door.

She stumbled to the side of the door frame, trying to get her senses all back to normal. She slowed her movements before taking several deep breathes. Heart rate falling, and her ears returning to normal, she looked over the soldiers, wondering if there was anything worth salvaging from them. They were lightly equipped with grenades and whatever weapons they had. AKs and MYs. Displeased with the limited amount of gear that they had brought, she started to stow away some of the items before she heard the loud crack of a revolver. Immediately hugging the wall, she peaked out the corner. Two more shots cracked out of the revolver as Quint quickly shifted to the other side of the adjacent room. Pistol raised and magic ablaze in her other hand, another shot. _That's six…_

When she reached the open area, just where a small flight of stairs were, the purple haired agent spotted to figures. One was Eva, caught in arms with a knife up to her throat. At least her helmet was still on. And the one holding her up was Ocelot, a smirk across her face.

"I've been waiting for this moment… I knew that it would be you coming back!" She exclaimed.

Quint frowned as she looked around. Any bit of aggressive moment and Eva would have her neck sliced open. Her magic attack would only so far too.

"That's it!" The blonde excitedly said. "That's that stance!"

Eva pushed back against her capturer trying to head off the ledge, but Ocelot was faster and easily held her up again. "I don't think so." She warned, knife closer to her throat.

The young Major's face frowned when her hand pressed against Eva's chest as her knife wielding hand slid down and groped her. "The hell? A female spy?" Almost instinct-like, she smelled her neck. "Damn bitch is wearing perfume…"

With her attention occupied Quint tried to inch her way closer before Ocelot held a revolver at her. "Stay where you are. I've had enough of your judo."

She blinked her eyes at the revolver. A little bit of relief calmed her emotions the new situation. Now to make Ocelot attack her…

"I see that you got yourself a single action army." Quint remarked, still keeping her stance.

"I took your advice to heart…" Ocelot smirked holding the weapon up right. Strange runes and carves were engraved into it before she pointed it back down at her opponent. "There'll be no accidents this time."

"It wouldn't have happened if you weren't showing off."

"What did you say?"

"It's a nice gun, I'll give you that. Trying to pawn it off later as a collector's item? Even those runes are fake, no magical backup for you to use either."

The blonde's face slowly started to fume as Quint waited for her fire. "And you're forgetting one simple little thing."

"Huh?"

"You haven't the guts to shoot me."

"We'll see!" She challenged, cocking the revolver and pulling the trigger. But nothing happened as fired again. Again and again, nothing came out.

Taking the opportunity, Eva dealt an upwards kick to her face, stunning the young Major forward. Using her freed momentum, she kicked her face again as Ocelot stumbled the ground in front of Quint. The now helmeted brunette leapt off the ledge and onto her motorcycle that she left in the same spot.

Infuriated, Ocelot got herself back up, knife in hand as she recklessly charged at Eva. Revving the throttle, she charged in. She lifted the front end of the machine as it bashed against Ocelot's hand and fell on top of her body, smashing at her Barrier Jacket. Coughing in pain, a scuff mark was ingrained into her face as the knife was thrown into the air and Eva circled around to Quint.

Coughing a bit of blood and struggling to get back up, Quint decided to speak up again. "Six shots. The Single Action Army only carries six shots."

"Errghhh…" The blonde groaned out.

"The Makarov carries eight… You haven't been really practicing with that haven't you?"

Ocelot grabbed back her revolver and got to her feet, "Damn!" She grunted her free hand in another one of those gestures. She spun the weapon with its trigger guard before resting it into its hostler. Realizing that it was reversed, she quickly removed it, spun it a few times and placed it back properly. "Th-this… This isn't over!"

Outgunned, she ran from the ruins and back into the forest. Eva raised her pistol as Quint pushed it aside. "Let her go."

"Why?"

"She's still young."

"It would have been easier to get rid of her right now…" Revving the throttle again, Eva took off into the forest as well.

All alone and quiet, Quint rested her body against some of the rubble. Her head was still ringing from the stun grenade but at least it was just annoying her now. Her Barrier Jacket shifting over to a forest green color with patches of brown, black and lighter green, she took off into the forest to make her way to the research laboratory.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Not too far away from the ruins, the Haimirian agent reached a swamp. The moist morning air filled the area as a thick fog rested just above the water. With all Barrier Jackets, they were immune to water so her body would feel nice and dry, but it really can't be said about her face.

_Good thing I had my hair cut before the Virtuous Mission, or this would have been a mess…_ She mentally noted before stepping into the waters. Even though the Jacket was water proofed, it still felt like something slimy had gripped around her legs. Moving slowly at first but eventually picking up speed, Quint navigated herself around the swamp, weary of the shadows casted in the waters. Whether it was large crocodiles or just other aquatic creatures, she didn't want to take a chance. Eventually she reached the other end of the swamp.

Feeling winded more than usual, she checked around her body. A long and slimy creature had latched on to her neck as she felt it sucked out her blood. Luckily there was only one. She quickly flipped her radio on and called Paramedic.

"Paramedic? This is Snake."

"Snake? Oh hello there. It's good to hear your voice again since the hospital. Is there something up?"

"Yeah, I got a leech on my neck… UUuhhh, I kinda forgot how to remove it."

"Ah ok, this is pretty simple actually. All you have to do is find where the sucker of the leech and slowly pulling it away. After that, clean the wound and throw the leech away."

"So don't burn it off with a cigar."

"… Why would you do that?" She asked with a very confused tone of voice. "If you do that, the leech is probably going to throw up whatever it ate or sucked up and might give you an infection. I mean, if you want to get a kick out of it, then I guess you can burn it AFTER you remove it."

"Thanks Paramedic."

"No problem. Is there anything else that you want to know about?"

Quint already started to pulled around her backpack as she looked through it. Eventually, she found a small package with her favorite cigars all clearly packed and dried. The bag was made by some new rising company called _Flexigrip_ and with the military contracts; she was able to use one of the prototype patented storage bags. Unzipping the bag, she pulled out a lighter and a cigar. "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you but… About this being your last chance as well."

The tone of her voice dropped a little. "Ohhh. That… Well… What about it?"

Lighting the cigar, she took a puff before continuing as she started to pull away at the leech. "I heard something about getting your medical license revoked. So what does that exactly mean?"

"In general, it means that a doctor or any other health care professional cannot practice medicine as directed by the Medical Board."

"So then you're out of the job then."

"Very much so."

"So then why did the Major say that it was something like 'If I fail, then we'll be going up against a firing squad'?"

Her line was silence for a full minute before she started to say something. "Snake, when you have dedicated your life to something and then watch it be taken away, how would you feel?"

The question unnerved her. Peeling off the leech she set the animal on the ground before taking her cigar, pressing the lit end into the leech. It's micro cries of pain lasted for barely a second before it stopped twitching and died.

"… I honestly don't know. I'd be… sad obviously, but I'd feel as if a part of me was just crushed."

"Then you know a little bit of how it was. I've wanted to become a doctor ever since I was a little girl and now that I have my dream… I don't want it to go away. You have something like this, don't you? Something that you're passionate about?"

The agent sat back into the ground to think. There was obviously The Boss, but would she be the exactly end of it? No, there was something else that linked the two together than being mentor and apprentice.

"… Fighting, I guess. Being able to stand up and fighting back. I've…" She took another puff. "Been a soldier ever since I was little girl."

"Aren't child soldiers denounced by the United Nations?"

"Only since the end of World War II. And even then, since when is the UN ever been effective in trying to do anything against it? There are always wars, and there are always people fighting. Eventually, kids are going to get involved, directly or not." She sighed. "At least, that's what The Boss told me."

"That's really sad when you think about it." She remarked, her tone getting lower and lower.

"If a child has high magic amplitude then they are sponsored by the government to train. It doesn't matter if it's Shutra, Mid-Childa, Haimiria or even Galea."

"How long have you been fighting Snake?"

"I want to say since I was nine, but I really don't know. It could have been younger. I saw real combat experience when I was fifteen, in the Chosun War."

"I'm sorry to bring this up Snake."

"It's fine Pre-err, Paramedic and don't worry about it. It was nice to have this talk."

"Th-thanks. You too Snake."

Just before she turned off the radio, Quint received another call from her ear. Thinking that she was wasting a bit of time, she got back up and slowly started to make her way out of the swamp.

"Snake? Are you there?" Eva's voice rang to life.

"Eva? Did you make it back without any trouble?"

"Nobody saw me."

"So then you're back with Harlaown, right?"

"In a matter of speaking."

"And The Boss too?"

"Yeah… But we are getting along pretty well. I guess that traitors have a lot in common."

The word 'traitor'. It stung, reminding her all too much of probably the final part of the mission. Her lips parting a little, she asked, "Why would anybody want to defect? I just… don't get it. Betraying one's country and all."

"Are you talking about The Boss?"

"No, no. In general. But ok, then what about you? Why'd you do it?"

"I guess you could say that I was bit… shut in. Unaware of the world around us. And then when I started to work for the NSA, I just kinda lost faith in the things I've been taking for granted."

"Like in?"

"How the universe works."

"Eh?"

"No, no. Not the actual universe, but the universe that the intelligence community sees it. How people, and countries change to the environment. And the times."

"That sounds like what The Boss said."

"There are so many things different from Shutra and Haimiria, but its only a matter of position. A change in perspective. Half of what I'd been told and taught was a complete and utter lie and the other half is a conveniently constructed half-truth."

"So then the real truth is?"

"Hidden in the lies."

"… Are you lying too?"

"Who knows? I've been trained to make the most severe falsehood sound like the honest truth. Weren't you?"

Shaking her head, the words started to confuse her. "No, I… believe because I have to. Even if it's a lie. That's my mission."

"I'll have to remember that. My radio frequency is 142.56. See ya."

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

The crack of an electric fence hummed around the forest as Quint looked around. Taking out her binoculars, she did find it off in the distance. Even a guard had been stationed nearby. The jungle ground just ahead of her seemed way to quiet. Even during the Chosun war, this seemed a bit out of place. Mines? Traps? Frowning, she laid her body prone to the ground and started crawling.

Brushing past some of the shrubbery, her violet eyes spotted a small device on the ground. It was boxed shaped and resting on four separate joints. Claymore mines. To mage, these things were living nightmares. Only a few heavy class mages would be able to power through it. With a sixty degree cone shaped explosive power, these things were death traps. But strangely they were facing the other way, as the 'front towards enemy' words were not visible. Happy at the Soviet's ineptitude, she continued and found a hole in the electric fence. Squeezing through, she made it to the other side with ease.

Looking around, she saw that the guard was still looking the other way. Getting to her feet, she snuck her way over to the guard. Raising her pistol she whispered, "Freeze!"

The guard immediately dropped his weapon and held his hands up. Crossing to the man's front, Quint saw that he had the standard fair for the rest of the soldiers here. She grabbed the man's radio and flicked it off before throwing it casually over her shoulders. Slowly, she started to poke around at his equipment belt. Two stun grenades, some extra ammunition (even some tranquilizer rounds) and a Shutran Ration.

"Are-are you going to kill me?" He asked, his voice trembling. Quint smiled as she walked behind him. She charged her free hand with magic as she punched at the lower bit of his ribs. Before he could yell out, Quint's other hand firmly held over as she choked the man. After a few struggling moments, the man passed out.

"Nice and easy."

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

The outpost of the Shutran GRU was a well equipped boxed in area. With guards patrolling around the corners and eyes on the look out for a Haimirian infiltrator, they were scanning all around the place. One of the guards yawned as he stretched out his arms. It was a rather dull day after all. Earlier in the morning it was a rather far placed outpost. Still, they followed Colonel Harlaown to the letter; least one of them gets forced retirement.

A growl rumbled in his stomach. While he wasn't one to enjoy the Shutran rations, they were something to eat. No way were they going to feed off the creatures of the fortress. But then again, he had heard of a new shipment of foods that the outpost got a few days back. Some type of pre-packaged food in the form of noodles. All you needed was boiled water and time. Mizuho and its strange ways. For a country that survived two nuclear bombings, they've recovered pretty well, even if it was a non-allied country to the Soviets.

His stomach growled again as he started to make his way over to the food shed. Boxes of all kinds lay out in the area as he looked for the noodle packages. To his surprise, one of the boxes was on the ground and flipped over. Shrugging, he grabbed the noodle package and left the room.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

The box shifted again Quint tried to reposition herself under its cover again. For some reason, she felt safe. Calm. She needed to tell somebody about this. Remembering the frequency for the weapon design and equipment expert, she dialed it up and opened the channel.

"Ahh, I was WONDERing when I was going to get a call." The voice said. It was distinctly male with a bit of enthusiasm. Whoever this Sigint person was, she would have to wait until the end of the mission to see his face. "So yes. Ms. Snake. I'm Sigint, the man in charge of weapons design and equipment for the IIA. So what can I help you with today?"

"Well… I'm in a box."

"… Can you say that again?" His voice seemed a bit confused.

"I'm in a cardboard box."

"WHY are you in the cardboard box?"

"I needed a place to hide when somebody was coming and the only thing that could give me cover was this box and… Well… It's comforting." She admitted. There was no exact reason why. "I dunno, I suddenly had this urge to get inside."

"You mean to stay undetected right?"

"No, no, not like that. It goes beyond just an urge. It's destiny. My destiny. To be in this box." Quint could hear her voice becoming louder and filled with excitement.

"Destiny..?"

"Yeah, yeah! And when I got inside, I suddenly had this feeling of 'inner peace'. I can't… I can't put it to words. I feel safe. Like this is where I was meant to be. Like I'd found the key to true happiness. No, no, that's not true! _Ice cream_ is true happiness. No wait! I got it! Eating ice cream in cardboard boxes! _**That's**_ the key to true happiness."

Sigint stammered on the other side of the line before Quint started to hear batting sounds on the microphone. He must have long hair.

"Do you understand what I mean?" She asked.

"Not a single bit." He said rather deadpan.

"You should come inside the box. Then you'll understand what I mean."

"Man, I don't wanna know what you mean with your freaky ass box! I've done some crazy stuff with the equipment in the past but… I'm done… There are no words."

"So then you understand my feelings then?"

"NO."

"Oh."

He took a moment to calm himself down before sighing. "Yeah, well anyways. I guess that dumbass box might be a decent disguise if it's indoors."

"So I can carry it with me?" Her voice perked with cheeriness.

"Can you put it in your bag?"

"I think it's too big."

"Then no. You'll just have to leave it where it is." Just before he turned off the channel Quint could hear him mumbling. "Terrible first impressions with boxes and…"

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

The crevice that Eva had told her was only a few yards away as she looked around. The jaded edges of the place laid large boulders to the side. Barren trees grew away from the thick patches of forest trees not too far back. From beyond the crevice was nothing more than rolling hills and grasslands.

But when Quint stopped just before the crack in the ground, she heard the ringing of boot spurs. Walking out of the corner of one of the boulders was Ocelot, her ponytail rocking at her side.

"Nyhaha… You're here at last." She announced, having a bit of strut in her walk. Quick drawing a revolver, she immediately dropped down to her Strike Arts stance. But at this range…

Her opponent raised an eyebrow as she spun the revolver around her trigger finger. It was different one from before, definitely something more practical than the one she had earlier.

"Twice now you've made me taste bitter defeat." She growled before 'meowing' into the air just like before. Hearing the thunder of footsteps she glanced behind her as Ocelot troops rushed towards both them, completely surrounding her.

"I'd hate to disappoint the Cobras but… You're mine now." Throwing another one of her gestures Quint's hand gripped around the pistol at her side. "All of you, stand down." She barked as the Ocelot troops did as they were told.

The blonde Shutran woman withdrew one revolver from her uniform and then a second one as she started to twirl them in a fancy pattern. "Ocelots are proud creatures… They prefer to hunt alone."

Forwards, backwards and to her sides, the revolvers spun. In a dizzying fashion, she flipped one over the other hand before putting it away. The other one, she continued to play with it, the metal and wood handles clanking together. Once over the other hand and behind her back she withdrew them both and pointed at Quint as she crouched back into her stance.

"_Twelve_ shots. This time… I've got twelve shots."

Standing there, the purple-haired agent wondered why she didn't just shoot her there.

"Alright then… Draw!"

The two immediately dove in opposite directions, hiding behind large boulders around the crevice. The second Quint hit the ground, she heard Ocelot's revolver crack as the bullets grazed against her Barrier Jacket. _Damned fast kid...!_

She hugged against her stone barrier and peaked over. Looks like Ocelot took to hiding as well. A small tuff of her hair popped out as she took aim and fired. The lock of hair flew in the air as the ribbon that held her ponytail broke off and flew with the wind.

"H-hey!" She yelped immediately popping out and grabbing it. In those split moments, Quint fired again, going to center of mass. The mana shot bursted against her Barrier Jacket as the blonde curled back from the recoil.

"Major! Men, open fire!" One of the Ocelot troops yelled as bullets punched at her Barrier Jacket as she moved out of the line of fire.

"Stay out of this!" She barked at her troops as they hesitantly lowered their weapons. Diving for cover again, the two tried to find one another. As Quint looked over her shoulders and boulder, three bullets made their mark against her Jacket as she groaned from their impact. The bullets didn't ingrain themselves into her skin at least.

Looking to the side there was some more rubble and Quint leapt over to the side her pistol aimed at the edges of the other side, and took to pot shots at the Major as she grunted again. Unleashing the rest of her ammo, the Major's bullets ricocheted off the rocks and ground as a few came close to making their mark.

"Nyha… Damn… I've never felt a tension like this before…"

Quint looked over her shoulders. There was a rock blocking her view. Creeping out more, Ocelot continued to talk to herself.

"That's so different from simply changing a clip!"

To her surprise, she was wide out in the open, emptying her revolvers and reloading them, an almost child-like glee on her face.

"This reload time is… just… intoxicating!" With the free opportunity, Quint lined up her shot and fired as Ocelot growled, withdrew her other revolver and fired with that. The shots banked off her legs, some grinding against the loose protection. She felt some blood dripping down.

"Yeah! That's it Major!"

Checking her corners, Ocelot was running out to another rock as she took another crack shot, the condensed mana shot bouncing off the cover. She needed to reload as the mana cartridge popped out from the bottom of the pistol with a hiss. Magical energy hissed against the wind as Quint jammed another clip into the pistol.

She heard the revolver fire off again as she heard a tree branch snap. The agent looked up and quickly ran from her cover to another one a bit away. The blonde sniped off an insekt nest nearby as the angry black bugs swarmed about before heading away.

Again, the two of them ducked and dove into cover, making sure that they didn't lose track of one another. Bullets and magical rounds bounced off and nicked against the rocks, each shot getting more and more accurate. They mirrored each other's movements, eyes locked and slanted down. Trying to force Ocelot into the open, Quint looked at the dead trees and spotted a few insekt nests floating above. She discharged her rounds at the top of the nests as furious bugs flew about Ocelot's area as she spun her revolvers in circles, batting away the creatures as Quint took her chance and fired again. Her opponent's Barrier Jacket wavered from the hits, yet her own was started to fail as well.

From their covers, the two of them stood again in the open, their weapons raised at each other. But then something caught their eyes. The insekt swarm that left returned again, this time bringing friends.

"Damn it…" Ocelot snarled as she started to back off. "He found us…"

Confused, Quint turned around to see a cloud of insekts descending at her. Her eyes widened, putting away her pistol and charged both hands with magic to swat away at the bugs. Strangely, the insekts didn't seem to sting her, but just force her away.

In contrast to her opponent's allies as they were rapidly stung by the creatures, many of them crying out in pain from their venomous stingers. Even if she was batting away the little beasts, she saw the horrific effects of their poison. Faces immediately bloated up from repeated stings as they collapsed on the ground dead as the bugs started to gnaw at their flesh, freshly puffed with their poisons.

The blonde Major however faired much better than her comrades as she continued to swat and thwack the bugs away from her body with her spinning revolvers. But even she knew that she couldn't keep this tirade up. Slowly, she started to back away.

"You were lucky… We'll meet again!" She asserted before taking off towards the grassland hills.

Realizing that her only escape was the crevice, Quint tucked and rolled away from the swarm around her. Getting one step for momentum she hastily dashed and jumped down the side, falling into darkness.


	6. Chapter 5: Painful

**Whenever I read Nanoha Vivid, all I can hear is G Gundam's opening songs.**

* * *

Shaking up from her fall, Quint peered into the darkness. She wasn't so sure about up or down in this darkness besides what gravity told her. Her back and legs ached from the fall, sliding down the rocky sides of the crevice. Unsure of what to do next, she flicked her radio on and hailed Major Zero.

"Major? This is Snake."

"Ah, Snake. I was getting a bit worried from you. You haven't contacted back in some time."

"I ran into Ocelot again but it looks like we are interrupted by some bugs."

"Wait, some bugs came and interrupted the fight?"

"Yeah… It seemed like they were controlled. A few of them killed members of the Ocelot Unit but the bugs seemed to, I dunno, push me into the crevice."

"Hmm, were they insekts?"

"Yeah, black bugs that leave nasty stunning stings."

"Then it must have been The Pain."

Quint frowned. Even if she had been in the hospital before the mission, she did some research into the Cobra Unit. All members seemed to carry some type of 'emotion' into battle. The Pain, The Fury, The End, The Fear and finally The Joy, or The Boss. Strange as she rarely seen The Boss actually smile since she had seen her again.

"The Pain?"

"A relatively unknown person. Has the ability of controlling insekts at his will. Always seen with that mask helmet thing of his."

"Hmm, got it. But Major I've gotta ask you one more thing. It's extremely dark in this crevice. Is there some way that I could light it up?"

"Hm… There is your cigar, but that's limited. You _can _use magic, but remember that the longer you hold it, the more tired you'll become."

"Got it. Snake out." She snapped the little dial back to standby. Concentrating her magic into a fist, the crevice cave lit up with a purple glow. Drips of water falling from the ceilings of her new environment as snakes and other crabs crawled about. Looking around, she spotted a strange pattern on the ground. It was stripped in some tannish brown color with patches of brown and black on it. Picking up the small trinket, she flipped it around. It was relatively solid too. Shrugging, the agent stored the thing in her backpack before hurrying into the cave.

It was only a short while when Quint started to use the wall to hold herself up. Using her magic as a source of light was tiring as she had to let the power go every once in a while just to catch her breathe. Rounding a corner, she met another dead end as her eyebrow angrily twitched. While Eva's talked about finding way through the crevice to reach the mangrove swamp, she never did talk about which direction it was. The glow of her purple light faded as something perked up. It was a faint green glow. Hastily making her way towards it, she found a glowing mushroom.

Her curiosity got the better of her as she kneeled down to the fungus and looked at it. It _seemed _edible. It _smelled _edible too. Shrugging, the mage took a big chomp out of the mushroom and slowly chewed it. It was pretty tasty actually. A few moments later and the mushroom was no more. But Quint remained crouched down, her body feeling a bit light. She felt light, but as if someone had lifted her off the ground and allowed her to dangle her legs freely.

Lifting her hand into the air as she generated her magic again, she felt as if the power being generated and used was nonexistence. As if an inflow of mana swelled up inside her.

"Huh… Maybe it's the mushroom!" she nodded to herself before clinking on her radio to Paramedic's channel.

"Paramedic?"

"Yes? What's going on Snake?"

"I found this glowing mushroom in the crevice. A light green color."

"Ah, so you must have found the Shutran Glowcap mushroom. It's a bioluminescent fungus that uses magnesium two plus ions and reacts with oxyluciferin and carbon dioxide. When the electrons in the carboxyl group return to ground state, they give off a light. In this case green."

"OOhh… But hey, did you know that they also regenerate mana?"

There was a pause in Paramedic's voice. "… Uhh, can you repeat that Snake?"

"Ohh, I'm sorry. Not exactly that but after I ate it… It's like I'm running off another mana cartridge besides the ones I put into the pistol. Just without the whole leaving behind a cartridge thing. Oh! And they taste pretty good too."

"That's… That's lovely Snake… Uuhh, can-can you hold on for a second?"

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Graduating with high remarks from Tuffs University in Boston, Massachusetts, Precia 'Paramedic' Testarossa was a well respected individual. Her knowledge into physiology, psychology and even genetics made her known the intelligence field. Although she was called a 'Quack' at times, she shrugged the nickname off and continued with her work.

But when something was completely off the charts with ridiculousness, she needed some time to just relax and think about how it would happen. Placing a cloth over the microphone, she tried to consolidate her thoughts to try and explain to Quint.

A light tap on her shoulders alerted her as she looked to the side. A man with long purple hair and yellowish gold eyes. Sure, back in the Pentagon and the IIA he was called a 'nut' but he seemed pretty nice. Mister Jail 'Sigint' Scaglietti.

Cupping her head, Precia sighed. "You overheard the conversation didn't you?"

"Who wouldn't?" he shrugged, leaning back as well.

"Can you believe?"

"Noope! There's no way that eating a bioluminescent mushroom should be able to do that."

"Maybe she's thinking this all in her head?"

"You mean like the box thing?"

Chuckling, the doctor leaned forward. "Yeah, exactly like that."

"Well, it's not exactly hurting the mission and hey if it works to her advantage, then why say anything about it?"

"So like a placebo effect?" She said aloud, thinking. "Good point. Thanks Sigint."

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Finally the radio cracked back to life as Quint had managed to find her way a bit away from the labyrinth she was trapped in earlier. "Alright, I'm back Snake."

"Hey Paramedic, I was getting a bit worried."

"Alright, I just looked into the book I was keeping and yes, collecting and eating those Shutran glowcaps will give you an extra boost in mana."

"Awesome!"

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Finally, through minutes of walking around and swatting away bats, Quint spotted sunlight however faint. She immediately ran towards it before slowing down to a hastily walk. The area was a small semi-sphere with a large rock platform in the middle. Two small rock formations rested a meter or so away as she continued to look around. The water was clean and light blue from the sun still in the skies. It must be roughly mid-afternoon or so.

Looking around, she spotted insekts leaking in from the ceiling as a ball of them hurled over. Swatting a few away, she made a dash and dive into the water as the small creatures swarmed above the water for a moment. But then, they moved away towards the center platform. Eyes slanting, she pulled herself out of the water and swam over to the small rock formation.

"I've been waiting for you!" a male-voice boomed. She heard this voice before, only a few days back when she was on the Virtuous Mission. The insekts seemed to stick together forming a humanoid shape before exploding out as the voice continued.

"We are the Sons of The Boss!" What stood where the ball of insekts once were, was a humanoid man, clothed in black armor. A strange insect shaped head helmet and a red scarf wrapped around his head.

The strange masked man backflipped a few times before throwing his arms out in a strange ready stance. "I am The Pain…" Again, with more queer movements before pointing directly at Quint.

"I will guide you to a world of anguish beyond your imagination!"

She immediately dropped down to a ready stance, her pistol and magically charged hand ready as The Insekt Master swarmed his pets around his arms.

"Let's get started!"

The billowing clouds of insekts burst as they swarmed around the cave. Mindful, Quint immediately took three shots at The Pain's stomach as he curled over, "Paaiiiin…" he groaned as several of the insekts swarmed around his hands.

"Tommygun!" And _somehow_ a Thompson submachine gun dropped into his hands. Immediately taking aim, the Bug Master fired at Quint. Diving into water, she managed to evade the bullets. Pushing her way through the water, she could still here him.

"Where did you go?"

_How did he summon that Thompson? _While summoning magic was not exactly unheard of, summoning larger weapons like a Thompson submachine gun wasn't exactly the easiest of things to do. Swimming to the other side, she hid behind a rock formation.

Almost immediately, he man turned around, his hands in the air. "Thank you my pretties, we've found her!"

Again, taking the opportunity, Quint rapidly fired her pistol as much as she could at the man. A black cloud of insekts suddenly came to his defense and acted as a secondary shield. Inky mass covered his other hand as he shouted, "Grenade!"

He lobbed the ball over as she dove back into the depths again, hurrying away. The blast of the grenade shook her ears as the water reverberated. Again, the Cobra had lost sight of her. Getting to the other rock platform was on before, she peeked over. The Pain was off doing strange gestures, swinging his hands to the side as the swarm of insekts floated about him. She took a crank shot, but the bugs deflected the mana shot as The Pain threw some strange grenade at the platform. The oblong shape cracked against the rocks as yellowish ooze dripped out. Quint knew exactly what it was, "Aww, shit!"

Immediately taking a dive back into the water, she cursed as bubbles lifted up to the surface. It was the liquid that the insekts make from their home nest. Any foreign object drenched in the ooze would have been swarmed with the little creatures. Swimming over to the other side, she was immediately greeted with bullets from The Pain's tommygun.

The Haimirian agent barely had time to gasp for air, immediately dropping back into the water. She needed to change her tactics. Then she remembered two things that she got from one of the guards. Grasping the stun grenade at her belt, she pinned the pin and lobbed it over. A muffled explosion rumbled the water as she popped her head back out. The Cobra stumbled backwards as the insekts laid prone to the ground.

"M-my insekts!" He screeched as more started to swarm into the cave. Quint took no time to fire again as The Pain stumbled back, nearly falling over into the water. By luck, his creatures latched on to his arm and pulled him back up. He slung over, his body now covered in more of the insekts. When he lifted his head, Quint's eyes widened.

What she was seeing was not a helmet. But it was his face. What looked like a jaw cracked up, revealing a swollen tongue that hung loosely from his face. The two slits on the side cracked up, revealing glowing red eyes. A feral shriek bounced around as she covered her eyes. The Bug Master croaked as a large red insekt shot out of his mouth followed by another and another. Their loud flapping wings almost sounded like planes from the Second World War.

Laughing with a childish glee he pointed at her as the large bugs followed his command. "Get her!"

Ducking her head into the water, one of the bugs managed to make their mark, a large stinger burrowing into her forehead. She screamed as bubbles rose to the surface as The Pain continued to laugh. Blood rushing from the wound, Quint felt as if she had shot in the head. Barely swimming away to an open area, she gulped down air breaching the surface of the water. Shaking off the weariness of the hit, Quint took no more time as hurled the last stun grenade she at the Cobra. Keeping her eyes closed and ears under the water, the grenade exploded, killing enough of the insekts flying around.

She unleashed the last of her rounds at The Pain as he stumbled back from the hits. One shot shattered his Barrier Jacket, exposing a blackened mutated skin underneath. The next shots hit his neck as he curled forwards and the final shots cracking against his head. Hunched over, Quint only watched what happened next.

"The pain…" He whispered as he slowly got back to his feet. The insekt clouds seemed confused as they billowed around his face. "The pain…" he said again, as if he was unsure of what was going to happen next.

"The pain!" The Cobra roared. Time slowed as he fell on his back. A fiery explosion erupted when he toppled at the rock top his voice echoing around the cave.

"_**The Pain…"**_

Still bleeding from the large insekt, Quint swam her way over to the platform. Gripping herself up and pulling herself out, she looked where the Bug Master once stood. In his place was a blackened and crumbled rock. But in the middle of it was small patch of something. Stumbling towards it, still clutching her head, she found a patterned remain of his armor. Still black, she felt around the texture. It was almost fuzzy to the touch as she placed it in her backpack. Taking a seat, she started to work on the wound to her head.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

One patch up and several scavenging for Shutran glowcaps later, the purple haired mage found her way out of the crevice. Entering a deep trench, she tried her best to cover up the patched wound to her head with her bandana. Hopefully it would stop stinging.

Continuing on, a strange whirring sound perked her ears. Pressing herself against the rock ledges, the whirring sounds grew louder and louder as strange single-man boards flew just above. Blue flames ignited on the bottom, they lazily floated just above the treeline and didn't stop to look down. Quint shook her head, remembering The Major's words. There was going to be advanced and experimental technology when she was getting close. And this must have been one of them.

Only a little bit further she walked until she was in the mangrove swamps. The tree's stretching roots in a tangle with other another making a barely accessible path for her to continue. Moving along, she noticed that there were marks of blades and uprooted spots. It was clear that the Harlaown men used this path for something. She was going in the right direction. Continuing on, she reached a fork in the river. One going right and other going left.

_Left is lucky today…_ She hummed to herself. The currents seemed to lead in that direction too. Following her gut, she sat in the water as the current dragged her way.

Her mind shifting to something else, she looked at the skies above. The fight with The Pain and her trek out of the crevice caves took awhile. The sun was already setting and her stomach was getting hungry. Once she made dry land, she needed to eat.

Once the current died down, she started to swim again. Checking her pistol, it was out of mana. Ejecting the cartridge, she loaded the next. Following along a rock wall, she peaked over her shoulder. There was a dock with a man-made shelter off in the corner. A few boats were tied to the dock as a little orange light sparked above a red metal door. Smiling at her luck, there was nobody on duty. Swimming her way over to dock, she pulled herself out and sighed. Looks like this wasn't the way to the laboratory.

Still, she was curious to see what the Shutrans got in stor. Marching her way over to the door, she gently pushed it open, pistol at the ready. It was a small store room, just like the outpost she managed to infiltrate. Looking around, there were extra supplies for grenades, ammunition and even some ready to make food. Her stomach growled for a moment as she looked at the food section, sweat dripping down her face.

Giving into her stomach's demands, she tore into one of the foods and munched down on biscuit like substance. It tasted like a graham cracker, but compressed. Taking a few more, she sighed happily at her discovery. The box was labeled as 'CalorieMate'. Quint grinned and stole a few, dragging them into her backpack. Just before leaving the storage, something caught her eyes. It was a long rectangle that lay to the side. Interested, she opened the crate to reveal a folded up _Dragunov _Sniper Rifle. Sparkling eyes glimmed with glee as she took the weapon and placed it in her backpack. Even in the West, this weapon already had a legacy behind it.

_I'm sure that they wouldn't be missing this right? Plus, it's a Sneaking Mission. Gotta use their tech against them! _She justified herself taking the carrying crate.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Perfectly disguised as fragile flower, Eva continued to walk with Harlaown, keeping her stance as helpless as possible. When she saw the setting sun from the far end of the hallway, her tensions eased for a moment before she overheard grunting not too far.

Rounding the corner, she saw Flor struggling against one of his men.

_This man can't be serious…_ She thought as Harlaown raised an eyebrow at the scientist. Shaking his head, he said, "Really now? How many times do I have to tell you?"

Patting her on the shoulder she felt the man's mana surge into her body, a near electrical discharge burned at her nerves. Screaming, the GRU Colonel let as she felt to the ground. Even with a little bit of magic to counteract the discharge, it still burned.

"Hay-hayate!" he said, as the soldier he was with shoved him back.

"Each time you resist," Harlaown casually grunted. "Your love will suffer the consequences."

Angry arose in the scientists face but he was too weak and lanky as the soldier shoved him back. "D-damn you!"

Struggling to get back to her feet, Eva felt her collar lift into the air as Harlaown gave her an amused looked. Coping a feel on her breasts, her skin felt cold as she struggled against the pain of near frostbite. The growing cold and yet burning sensation spread across her body as she screamed again. Her leggings ripping apart from the sheer cold, the GRU Colonel simply dropped her back onto the ground. Her fake glasses clanked to the ground.

Just as Flor continued to be pushed away, a familiar voice barked from behind the both of them. "Just hold it right there, traitor!"

The soldier seemed to figure out what to do as he pushed Flor into the woman stepping out from behind them. Her revolvers pressed against Flor's forehead, Ocelot casually shrugged with a bullet in her opposite hand. "I have a game to play… So let's see how lucky you are."

Taking the bullet and jamming into the one of the socket's, the blonde Major took out two more revolvers at her belt. "I'm going to pull the trigger six times in a row… It's like Shutran Roulette."

Flor's mouth instantly dried as Ocelot started to juggle the weapons, his own fate at the work of chance. Her skill at juggling would have been something to remark if it wasn't for the fact that his life was on the line.

Lackadaisically, she took one of the revolvers and fired. The heavy clanks of metal on metal making Flor hop backwards. A few moments later, she did it again, as Flor pushed himself against some crates. "Ahh..!"

Again and again and again, she fired. Juggling faster and faster, even going behind the back just to screw around with the scientist's fear, Ocelot only grinned as he stumbled on his legs and voided himself. The steaming scent of urine and feces only helped her smile grow.

"Looks like your luck hasn't run out just y-!" From the corner of Eva's eye, The Boss stepped from nowhere, grabbed a revolver and fired it into the calm water's before them. Holding the weapon to her side, she glared at the blonde, a frown on her face.

"There is no such thing as 'luck' on the battlefield." The brunette said, looking at Flor and back to Ocelot. The blonde looked down for a moment as Harlaown smugly laughed as the soldier brought Flor to his feet and pushed him out of sight.

Eva could tell that the blonde haired woman wanted her revolver back as The Boss held it pointed up. "Stay in line Major. The Cobras will take care of her." A simple trick with her hands, the White Devil shoved the weapon into Ocelot's chest.

The once proud Single Action Army was broken into three pieces. Her face mortified by her comrade's actions, The Boss returned her face with a glare. The GRU Major angrily stomped away, muttering curses and throwing her hands in another gesture.

"Has the IIA dog been disposed of yet?" Harlaown spoke again, his patience clearly tested.

"… The Pain is dead."

Shock quickly became rage as he smashed his fists into the concrete wall besides him, rumble easily flying out from the holes he made. Mana streaks and frost overshadowed him as he gritted his teeth. "Peh, she may be a child, but she's definitely one of yours."

"I fear that Zaporozhet may have a hand in this." He grunted, turned back to The Boss. "You must eliminate her before the final test."

"Don't worry." She replied, as the sounds of a squeaking wheelchair slowly approached. "They'll be able to handle it."

The wheelchair seemed to move on its own as seated in it was a young man, taking a nap. Chocolate brown hair rested over his eyes as he continued to snooze. Slowly, a woman with blue hair dripped out of the ground, her happy-go-luck grin gazing over the small group.

"I'm leaving her to you, The Fear." The Boss nodded to the blue haired woman. The woman grinned as she sunk back into the ground and sprung out, jumping into another form of matter. Happy as can be, she leapt into the deep forest, shouting. "Fear!"

If there was any sense of creepiness that Harlaown had, it was masked by his curiosity at the young man in the wheelchair. Eva squinted to get a better look at the man. His Barrier Jacket was dark green with black undercoating. The perfect camouflage for a sniper.

"The young lad is always sleeping. He's not dead is he?" The ice mage asked.

"The End is saving his energy if he does have to battle. He did a great service during the war, sniping at the ripe age of six." The side-ponytailed mage returned, looking back at the sniper. "He'll wake up when the time is right."

The crash of thunder up above signaled as rain started to drizzle down. "And when he does… It'll be The End for the girl."

"Meh." The Colonel grunted as he shrugged off some of the rain as it picked up intensity. Marching back to Eva, the hair-clipped agent looked up. "Flor isn't worth of your love. You can entertain me until the rain stops." Turning away, he muttered his usual charm. "Minokichi, minokichi…"

Getting up herself, she gripped her uniform and her near burned breast, following after Harlaown.

Finally rid of the people, The Boss looked at the skies above. Streaks of lightning lit up the skies as she calmly looked bacl. "Sorrow…" She muttered shaking her head. Faintly, she waltzed into the large garage opening, disappearing into the shadows.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Holding her Dragunov Sniper, Quint took a moment to think. When another soldier started to push The End away, she thought of sniping the man. After all, it was a clean shot and it would help her mission to get rid of one of the Cobra's real easily. Her finger on the trigger, a trail of sweat dripped down her neck.

It just didn't feel right to do something like that though. If The End was saving his energy when he's going to battle him, she felt obligated to give him a soldier's battle. It was the least she could. With all the guards gone, she made her way over to the docks nearby and pulled herself out of the water.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

The inner warehouse of Ponizovje was cold and damp as Quint continued to creep through. With her Barrier Jacket shifting to urban camouflage, a pattern of grey with splash spots of black and white spots, she pressed herself against the wall. A few drips of water squished between the concrete ground and her boots. But luckily, it wasn't the loudest of things. Drips of water from the ceiling as well as the marching of foots echoed about the area. There were guards about, but nothing that she couldn't handle. Peeking her head over a wall, she spotted two soldiers making their routes. Firing her pistol, even if it was suppressed the sounds would echo about and smashing their bodies into the ground would alert the others.

Stepping down the stairs, she waited for one of the guards to loop around the corner as she matched her footstep sounds with the others. Seeing that there was a slight time delay between the two in the middle, Quint waited for the first guard to round about. Immediately she ran across the open space and slide across the ground.

"Makarov, was that you?" One of the guards noticed her dash.

"What?"

_Fuck!_ Looking around the area, there wasn't any cover for her to use.

"Didn't ya hear footsteps?"

"Nope. I think your just imagining things. Maybe that ration got to your head."

"Yeah, well fuck you too."

Sighing at their banter, Quint still rested herself against the crates, as one of the guards slowly rounded the corner. Just then, she lunged at his neck, choking him as his cries for help came out as coughs. Hands wildly flailing about, she was lucky that the guard dropped his rifle as it clanked on the ground. Squeezing hard, Quint closed her eyes as she waited for the guards struggling to stop.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" The other guard shouted, raising his rifle at the two of them.

Her eyes snapping open, she immediately jumped into action. Full control of her captive, she shoved the man into the other guard, before charged her hands with magic and rushed at the two. A twin blow to their heads, cleanly slamming their heads into the concrete as they instantly fell unconscious. They might have a bit of brain damage, but at least they were unconscious. Scanning them over, Quint spotted their radio communicators as she ripped them off their person and crushed them under her foot with a magic driven stomp.

"Stupid, stupid…" She muttered to herself before looking up. She's still got a ways to go before reaching the laboratories.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

The metal exterior of the Research Facilities gates was surrounded by barbed wire fielding. Electrified to a point, a guard walked around doing his routes, clearly bored. Right next to the main gates doors was a Belkan Shepherd, snoozing away. Its ears flickered at the slights of noise. Light swish of its tail showed that it was aware of its surroundings, albeit bored as well.

The night continued on as it usual was, guard the outdoors, walking a linear pattern, and keep your eyes open, blah, blah, blah. Of course, he would never admit to thinking anything against his job, else Harlaown freezing him in a block of ice for eternity or something crazy like that.

The dog's ears perked up again, as it immediately stood up. Tail pointing straight up and mouth closed the dog slowly walked over to the guard as he watched it. "Something up boy?" A second later, the dog yelped out as it fell unconscious, thrown back from some purple colored mana round at its skull.

"Wh-who's the-!" Another round exploded in his face as everything turned black.

* * *

**-.-.-**

* * *

Donning a scientist garb, Quint entered the laboratory and removed the bandana on her head. Having something like that would have been a dead giveaway to who she was, or at least it the guards would have been suspicious of whom she was. Doing her best to casually walk around the place, the test came when she approached her first guard. The Shutran soldier virtually gave her no second looks as she continued.

It was a good sign that it worked. Happy with her new disguise, she pushed open a door that was labeled scientist lounge. Inside was a small corridor, with support pillars and small benches inbetween. Gulping to keep herself cool, she walked around, making sure to keep herself out of the sights of other scientists that might be in the area. A stairwell to the left, she quickly followed it down, leading to a small hallway. A door to the right, it was probably a security post. Rounding the corner, the purple-haired agent reached another door. Opening it gently, she looked inside. It was a small living area, complete with a half-complete game of cards and a small television. Luckily there was nobody around as she casually passed through and found another door.

But when she opened this one, the room was completely different. It was like a small personal space as piles of paper sat to the corner of the main table. The smell of vodka trickled out of the room. Quint was never one for hard liquor but, this smell was terrible. Pulling out her knife, she casually looked around and entered. The quiet sounds of radio played some Shutran song.

"If you're looking for Flor, he isn't here." A man voice grunted as Quint turned to face the sound. A pivot chair slowly turned around as a man with long green hair gave her a half dazed look. A man in his later years, the green in his hair was a shade lighter and spots of grey near the roots showed his age. _So that's where the vodka came from…_ She mentally snarked.

His drunken blue eyes gazed at her body as he sighed. "Put that thing away, you'll spoil my drink."

Lowering the knife, the man sat himself back up. "So you're that intruder that has everybody talking. Typical capitalist dog – no matters whatsoever." In his hands was a flask as he took another large gulp.

"And you are?" Quint asked.

Getting up, the man sighed. "And you call yourself an agent, you little… Very well then, I am Verossa Cynosovitch Acous. A man of some importance, as you might say."

"I am the foremost weapons scientist in the Soviet Union, and the head of the glorious Acous Design Bureau." Mindfully, Quint switched her radio on to see if anybody would want to hear this back home. Pointing at a medal on his suit, the green haired scientist continued.

"This is the Order of Lenin, a medal of great magnitude given along with the title 'Hero of Socialism'." He said, hands in grandeur pose. "Since The Great Patriotic War, I've created countless weapons in the service of our great communist society. It was thanks to me, that we Shutrans were able to stamp out the _Nazi_ scum."

"It was I that created the basic design for the mobile missile system you know and fear as SS-1C." He pointed to the side. Her eyes following the path, she saw a small display case of the SS-1C Shutran rockets. A small scaled down version perfect for a little trophy space.

"You're drunk, aren't you?" Quint stated the obvious. Even with the Shutran 'iron-liver' and the numerous of jokes it created, it was clear that head of the Acous Design Bureau was in a stupor.

"It's called 'drowning my sorrows'." He pointed back with the flask in hand. "Because of _him_, I've got nothing to do here but sit here…" He paused. "And drink this crap!"

"You mean Flor?"

"Of course!" He threw his hands in the air, turning back around. A few drops of the vodka flew out and dripped on her head. "Because of him, I've been stripped of my authority. Research, poof! Gone!" Walking back to his desk, he withdrew some papers in a drawer and handed to her. Although she was no good with large detailed words with research, she did understand a few things as well as the pictures. A large two standing walking battle tank machine with a nuclear silo to the side.

"It's a revolutionary mobile nuclear and magical missile system… A bipedal tank."

"A bipedal tank?"

"Yes, a walking tank. A robot!" The green haired researcher then trailed off to another topic. "Are you familiar with the theory of the mana and magic manipulation?"

"Doesn't any other mage know this?"

"The ability of mana control and absorption of the atmosphere and surrounding lifeforms. Soldier mages use it all the time if the area provides it. Hard but… Possible. If human can do it, why not machines?" Quint blinked as he continued. "It was once said in ancient records that magic came from the power of the stars above… A folklore obviously, but what about now? This weapon will revolutionize weapons develop for decades to come… The mana increasing nuclear fusion one hundred fold! Harnessing the power of a star. Star power… A Starlight Breaker if you will."

"Starlight… Breaker?" Quint frowned. What type of name was that?

He sighed, slumping a bit over with his flask. "But no, I won't be used to easily. No, no crying to myself at night. Because I already sent these plans to a friend I had back in the United States…" He pointed at an old photograph on the wall. He was him and another woman. Her hair was pushed to the side, showing her widow's peak. Kind eyes, but thanks to the photographs detail, no color was on it.

"Wait, what?! Why?" She asked, confused on why he would.

"These bastards will regret this. And when they themselves become targets of _MY _creation, they will know TRUE greatness. Yes… Flor's Fanzabastovka is nothing more than a shadow of my work. A pale IMITATION! Feph… A tank with rockets… Why not go large?"

Seeing that he might bring himself off to a tangent, Quint quickly spoke up, putting down the papers. "About Flor…"

"Tanks with rockets… Look at these!" He pointed down to his legs.

She nodded. "Nice shoes."

"Wha? No, legs!" he slapped his knees a few times, "Legs that allow it to go anywhere! Like an ordinary person! THAT is true replication. True revolutionary development! Don't you agree?"

"… Uhhh…" Quint was no rocket scientist, and the science behind walking around didn't really seem to help her fire a gun or use magic.

"But, those fools chose FLOR instead, the nerve." He spat out, grabbing a bottle from the wall. It was vodka, probably the same one he was drinking from the flask.

"So where is Flor?"

"My project has been terminated; Al-Hazard has been handed over to him."

That name didn't seem recognizable. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Al-Hazard. Haven't you ever heard of the Philosophers? The Colonel has inherited their immense legacy. Feh, I doubt he obtained it so easily from his parents. His father, Clynde was in charge of the Philosopher's money laundering activities. But in the confusion of the war, either by him or his wife Lindy, they somehow ended up with their treasure. We never need to worry about a military budget. The development costs at our facility are all paid out of the Colonel's deep pockets."

"The weapons born here will be the genes for creating an entire new form of warfare! The funding of my research came out from that legacy… And now, _MY _men, _MY _money… all diverted to the Fanzabastovka project. Tomorrow will be the final test. While Flor is off doing the final checks in the weapons facility at Harlaown's main base, the great fortress of Groznyj Grad, here I am playing host with enemy spy and drinking myself into tomorrow."

"So that's where they moved Flor?" Quint chimed in.

"Have you not been paying attention?"

A bit offended, she then said, "And the Fanzabastovka is there too?"

"Duh."

Growling, the Haimirian agent moved towards the door. "Hey! You're not thinking of going to Groznyj Grad, are you?"

She stopped, listening to his words. "Are you mad? It's an impenetrable fortress!"

"I'm sure it is…" She grunted, getting irritated from the old man's rambling.

"You'll be killed!"

"I'll take my chances." Moving to the door again, Acous commanded, "Wait!"

"Oh, what now?"

"Listen to me you fool! I _want_ to _help_ you."

"Eh?"

"To thank you for your compliment." He smiled, still drunk. "These shoes… Hayate gave them to me. I wanted to thank you for complimenting me on them."

The purple haired mage blinked. _Odd, but ok…_

"I'll tell you how to get to the fortress. All I ask is that you take that idiot out of there and destroy the Fanzabastovka." Circling around, Acous continued, "There is an underground tunnel that runs around the perimeter of the fortress. You should be able to sneak inside to the base."

"Head to the mountains. The entrance to the tunnels should be located there." Pulling a thin card from his back pockets, he handed it to Quint. "This will let you get in."

Taking the card, she tilted her head as the scientist continued, "You passed through a warehouse on your way here, correct? There should have been a locked door inside of it. This key will open that door. Pass the thick jungle and you should be able to find way to climb the mountains."

Stowing the key away, something was bugging her. Everything seemed way too convenient. "Why are you helping me?" She inquired.

"Because unlike Flor, the thought of defection never once crossed my mind. I love…" he breathed in. "I love my country. I love this land. I cannot even imagine anywhere but. I wish to remain a hero; of the great motherland."

"The thought of being hounded and left to waste away…" Acous started before noticing the clock just above the door. "Hmph, it is already dawn. Go. I will remain here, and nurse my troubles a little while longer." Slowly, he walked back into his chair and slouched down, resting his head against the back.

As Quint turned away and headed to the door, he smiled and raised his flask.

"To capitalism!"

And with that, she closed the door behind her.


End file.
